21 December 2023 , 12:29
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After Brianna Ghey was horrifically murdered in broad daylight by schoolchildren, Boy Y and Girl X, the evil pair returned to their separate homes and continued their disturbing plan.
On February 11 of this year, Brianna was stabbed to death 28 times in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire, by two teenagers who had been plotting to torture and kill her. Yesterday, the killers, who were 15 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, were found guilty of brutally murdering the young girl. Today, a judge lifted the anonymity order and ruled that they will be named when sentenced on February 2.
During a lengthy trial at Manchester Crown Court, the jury heard of Boy Y and Girl X's dark fascination with violence, and how the twisted pair had been planning to stage a killing frenzy for weeks. Brianna, 16, was lured to her death and murdered in the coldest fashion, and then her killers fled the scene and continued their act.
Girl X and Boy Y had planned to cover up Brianna's body with 'logs' - but were spotted and fled the scene before they had the chance (MEN Media)A handwritten note of their 'murder plan', found in Girl X's bedroom, stated the teenagers planned to cover Brianna's body with 'logs'. But they panicked when dog walker, Kathryn Vize, saw them in the park and ran away. In the aftermath of Brianna's murder, Girl X and Boy Y "feigned ignorance" and created matching "false defences," Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told the court.
The pair were spotted on a dashcam walking together down a lane at 3.15pm, carrying on the day as normal, as if nothing had happened. CCTV footage showed the twisted pair walking towards Girl X's home, she arrived at around 3.20pm and deleted a Snapchat conversation she'd had with Brianna at 3.44pm, the court was told.
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Meanwhile, Boy Y was caught 'apparently wiping his hands, which appeared to be red in colour' on CCTV before getting the bus back to his home, arriving at about 4pm. Jurors were told how he messaged Girl X at 4.28pm, asking: "So how's your cat?" Girl X replied: "Good loll. How's yours." Boy Y said: "It keeps trying to purr."
They then set about attempting to craft a subtle cover-up story. Girl X messaged Boy Y to say a "woman got stabbed" in the park and he replied "Holy crap". The following day, Girl X, who had befriended Brianna, messaged her phone number to say: "Girl, is everything okay? Some teenage girl got killed in Linear Park its on news everywhere. And why did you ditch us for some random man from Manchester. Like wtf."
On the night of her murder, Girl X asked Boy Y at 11.11pm: "Do you have anxiety about getting caught?" Boy Y replied: "Probably." Girl X said: "You're not going to get caught don't worry. Police are sh*** here."
The murder weapon was found in Boy Y's bedroom within 24 hours of Brianna's death, while the evil pair staged their cover-up (PA)The next day, Girl X's mum phoned police to tell them her daughter had been "in the park when Brianna looked at her phone and said she needed to meet some boy, a 17 year old from Manchester who was going to meet her in his car." Meanwhile, Boy Y looked up penalties online for supplying or withholding information on the Crown Prosecution Service website. Girl X then posted a tribute to Brianna on Snapchat, describing her as an "amazing friend", and that what happened to her was "so f***ing sickening".
"She said Brianna just stormed off and that was the last time she saw her," Ms Heer said. Girl X messaged Boy Y to warn him that her mum had spoken to the police, and told him to, "Make sure story adds up say to police everything we met Brianna at half 1 walked to linear and sat and chilled on the bench, then Brianna looked at her phone and said she was gonna meet some lad and walked off."
Ms Heer said: "Girl X repeated to Boy Y the story she had just provided via her mother to the police, so that he would know what to say." Within 24 hours of the murder, officers identified the suspects and found the knife and blood-soaked clothes in Boy Y's bedroom, and the 'murder plan' in Girl X's.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Evans explained it became clear early on that the pair believed they could cover their tracks. "These are really high functioning, intelligent children," he said. "I know people sat at home reading this will have this sort of image that they've built themselves. But actually they're both really clever kids and very bright, very articulate. I think probably their downfall has been their confidence or arrogance around the fact that they thought that they could take another human life and then thought there would be no comeuppance for them and they'd never get caught."
On Wednesday, Mrs Justice Yip told the two defendants: "I will have to impose a life sentence. What I have to decide is the minimum amount of time you will be required to serve before you might be considered for release. I'm not going to do that this week. I'm going to ask for some reports in relation to each of you."