02 February 2024 , 11:53
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This is the chilling moment Eddie Ratcliffe casually boards his bus home shortly after the abhorrent murder of Brianna Ghey.
The 16-year-old, along with accomplice Scarlett Jenkinson, stabbed Brianna - also 16 - to death in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire, on February 11 last year. The two face life sentences today at Manchester crown court after both were found guilty of Brianna's murder.
Named only as Girl X and Boy Y during the course of the trial, the two killers can now be named for the first time as a judge lifted a court order preventing their identification due to their ages. Judge Mrs Justice Yip ruled there was a strong public interest in lifting the order on Friday and confirmed both youths' names.
Evidence has now been released to the public by Cheshire Police showing Ratcliffe calming getting on a bus after the murder, in which Brianna was lured to the park before being stabbed repeatedly and left for dead. The jury was also shown disturbing evidence during the trial showing Jenkinson's apparent obsession with serial killers.
Ratcliffe has been diagnosed with autism, selective mutism and social anxiety and only speaks to his mother, the court heard. The teen sat in the dock doing puzzles in a sudoku book throughout the course of the trial, with both him and Jenkinson described as a "danger to society".
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He showed not a flicker of emotion in court as he sat head down with a pen in his hand doing a puzzle on his knee while the 999 call played from when Brianna was discovered. Ruled too distressing to be made public, jurors heard the breathless words of the horrified dog walker who first came across her lifeless body.
Eddie Ratcliffe was seen boarding a bus not long after stabbing Brianna Ghey to death (Cheshire Police)During the 18-day trial at Manchester Crown Court in December, the jury heard of the twisted duo's fascination with violence and how they had been planning to stage a killing frenzy for weeks. While they tried to mask their obsessive and disturbing natures, their "thirst for killing" was evident in their text exchanges and cross-examinations.
Jenkinson mapped out the 'murder plan' in a handwritten note but they appeared to work together, with Ratcliffe suggesting various poisons and medieval torture weapons they could use on their prey. Today, it was reported Jenkinson admitted for the first time stabbing Brianna herself.
During the trial, she maintained that it was Radcliffe who had stabbed Brianna. 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". She said: "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." Both are expected to be jailed for life at Manchester crown court today after they were convicted of Brianna's murder in December.
Brianna's parents gave heartbreaking statements to the court on Friday morning describing their agony at losing their beloved daughter. Her father, Peter Spooner, described the teen killers' crime as "unforgiveable" and that he had been "deprived of so many memories and time" with her.
Mr Spooner said: "Not an ounce of remorse has been shown from these murderers, putting myself and my family through this awful trial having to hear the details about how Brianna suffered. It is unforgivable. The impact of Brianna's death has affected our whole family."
He added: "I wish I wasn't standing here reading this statement today, but if I wasn't then there would have been another father stood here in my shoes, another child from their list would have been brutally murdered and I wouldn't wish this terror and pain onto another person."