02 February 2024 , 11:23
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Twisted killers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe had bright futures ahead of them, just like Brianna Ghey
The teens, previously referred to as Girl X and Boy Y who have now been named at their sentencing, had appeared to be regular schoolkids, but behind closed doors, they shared a deep twisted fantasy that became a horrifying reality. The warped pair lured 16-year-old Brianna Ghey to a local park before stabbing her 28 times in a frenzied attack.
Brianna's murder took place in broad daylight on February 11 last year in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire. But the two, 15 at the time, had planned their kill much earlier and had spent months plotting to live out their "thirst for killing" together over WhatsApp.
The 16-year-olds are now set to spend the rest of their lives behind bars after being found guilty of murder. They first met when they were 11 and went on to form a close yet sinister bond, confiding in one another about their dark desires.
Brianna on the bus to meet her killers (MEN Media)Both came from 'normal backgrounds' and Ratcliffe, from Leigh, had a keen interest in karate as a child. The 18-day trial at Manchester Crown Court heard that the two were intelligent and high-functioning, both with parents who had steady and respectable jobs. Ratcliffe's mother is a skiing instructor and his father runs his businesses. Jenkinson is the daughter of a high school teacher.
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Eddie is known to have had a particularly privileged upbringing, with family skiing trips abroad. His murder weapon was even a hunting knife bought from a souvenir shop on holiday.
They both worked hard at school with aspirations of studying at university and neither had been in trouble with police before. While on remand, he passed eight GCSEs and had been self-tutoring for A levels in physics, biology, chemistry, pure maths and English literature.
However Jenkinson had been excluded from Culcheth High School, where Ratcliffe was a pupil, for supplying cannabis gummies to a younger pupil. When Scarlett joined Birchwood High School, this is where Brianna had the misfortune to cross her path.
She had befriended Brianna, finding her "different" and "fascinating". It appears they were aware of their descent into violence, as one labelled the other a "sociopath" while her partner-in-crime said she was "not a normal person" after joking about dead babies.
Scarlett had an 'obsession' with thrillers
Eddie Ratcliffe suggested various poisons and medieval torture weapons they could use on their preyThey were in it together and spurred each other on as they divulged harrowing plans of torture and death in thousands of disgusting WhatsApp messages. In a police interview, Ratcliffe revealed that Jenkinson called herself a santanist.
He said: "I don’t really try and object to what she [Jenkinson] was saying. She was just trying to convince me, telling me how mentally unstable she is or something. She always says about killing things and jokes about stabbing things, watching torture videos. She was saying about how she was a satanist. She would joke about it. 'I'll stab your nan, s**g your cat'."
Their lust to end someone's life didn't start with ill-fated Brianna, as they had conjured up a hit list, discussing five other potential victims before Jenkinson formed a friendship with Brianna after she complimented her eyeliner. She became fixated with the transgender teen, just like she was with the dark web.
From the age of 14, Jenkinson immersed herself in graphic videos of people being tortured, telling the boy: "I love watching torture vids. Real ones on the dark web." During the trial, the court heard how the girl had attempted to give Brianna an overdose of pain relief and that Brianna had indeed been ill, which her mother believed may have been appendicitis.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said: "Until this point in the chronology, although the defendants spoke of wanting to torture or kill other people, there is no evidence that they had in fact acted upon their words. However, when Girl X told Boy Y that she had given Brianna an overdose of tablets, it seems that she wasn’t making it up."
This is Jenkinson's notes about Jeffrey Dahmer (PA)And along the way, the girl developed an obsession with serial killers. She spent significant time studying Dr Death Harold Shipman, the Night Stalker Richard Ramirez, the Killer Clown John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer, referencing them in her journals.
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Photographs released by Cheshire Police at today's sentencing show pages in a notebook Jenkinson kept. On one page she listed bullet points containing characteristics and things about Dahmer, who killed and dismembered 17 people between 1978 and 1991, such as how he killed and disposed of bodies.
She also shared her admiration for sinister Hollywood movies, having watched her favourite Sweeney Todd 9,000 times, including the night before the murder, when she confessed to Ratcliffe: "If I do end up killing M, I have a really sharp blade, the same one that Sweeney Todd uses." The prosecution suggested the girl had primed her friend - who was named in her phone as 'Tesco John Wick' - a reference to a fictional hitman. When cross-examined however, she stated she gave him this nickname because 'he looked like a less good version' of the famous Keanu Reeves character.
The killers had a 'thirst to kill' (MEN Media)Her enthusiasm for cinema could explain why she had mapped out the murder plan in a handwritten note, as if she was crafting a production, and sent a picture of it to the boy. Delivering his closing speech on behalf of the boy, Richard Littler KC advised the jury: "If this case were a play, it would definitely be a tragedy.
"The script would have been written by Girl X. It would have been directed by Girl X, it would have been stage-managed by Girl X, it would have been produced by Girl X and the central character would have been Girl X. The central issue in the case is whether you can be sure whether Boy Y was part of the cast or just an extra drafted in for that afternoon on the 11th of February in Culcheth. Was he a fully paid-up member of the plan?"
But it wasn't a one-man show, as Ratcliffe suggested various poisons and medieval torture weapons they could use on their prey, and showed a preoccupation with weapons including tomahawks and shurikens. Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Evans, Cheshire Police's head of crime, described the two as 'intelligent' to concoct such a horrifying plan given their tender ages.
"I think they're both really intelligent kids," he said. "You look at their backgrounds, they're quite high-functioning. I think that's brought a level of arrogance, or certainly confidence. I don't think they ever imagined we'd uncover those text messages, and I'm not sure they ever thought we'd knock on their doors.
"We know in this case how it's ended. What I would say is, let's put this in a little bit of context. As horrendous as this is, it's really rare. Most 14 or 15-year-old kids do not go on to do things like this. These are two very warped individuals who have done what they've done. The access to the dark web is certainly quite worrying.
Peter Spooner, father of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, (AFP via Getty Images)"It shows a level of intelligence. Not everyone can do that. It has probably made me reflect as a parent. Do you know what your kids are doing when they're sat with the door shut in their bedroom? There's probably a bit for all of us around wider internet safety and awareness, but I don't for one minute think we've got kids across Merseyside and Cheshire Googling how to kill people. We've got to keep this in the context of what it is, which is horrendous, but it's two warped individuals."
The jury was informed of both of the defendants' varying degrees of neurodivergence and had permission to play with fidget toys and puzzles to calm their anxiety in court. Ratcliffe, who was allowed to type his answers, has autism spectrum disorder and selective mutism, and following his arrest, no longer spoke to anyone but his mother. Jenkinson was diagnosed as having mildly autistic traits and traits of ADHD.
Under arrest, Jenkinson laughed 17 times during her lying account to police detectives. "'I'm good at hiding stuff and playing the victim," she had told Ratcliffe. But in the glare of the courtroom she felt "overwhelmed" after the first day of her trial and left visibly shaking, sometimes dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
And the twitch to the right side of her face and right eye would become more pronounced under stress as her story fell apart in the witness box. They were joined by their parents, who watched on in horror.
It was reported at the sentencing that Jenkinson admitted for the first time stabbing Brianna Ghey herself. Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court the 16-year-old had been seen by a psychiatrist after she was convicted of murder last December and made "admissions".
Ms Heer said: "She said effectively, she said that at the time of the killing she had in fact administered stab wounds herself. She had snatched the knife from Eddie's hand and stabbed Brianna repeatedly.
"She said Eddie had thrown Brianna to the floor and stabbed her three or four times then he panicked and said he did not want to kill her, so she carried on and stabbed her a number of times. When asked how many, she answered, ‘A lot.’ She was satisfied and excited by what she was doing."
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deputy crown prosecutor Ursula Doyle stated that both teenagers were "equally responsible in planning the killing and carrying it out", adding that they "appear to have been a deadly influence on each other and turned what may have started out as dark fantasies about murder into a reality."
Speaking outside Manchester Crown Court following the verdicts, Brianna's dad Peter Spooner said in an emotional statement she had "an amazing talent" which she enjoyed sharing with friends and family. "I look into her eyes and they shine back at me," he said. "And I know she was a beautiful girl to be proud of," he stated, while telling of how it "breaks" him every day to know he will not see his daughter again.
Trial judge Mrs Justice Yip said the killers could be named when the sentencing hearing took place on February 2. Mrs 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."