Jury in Brianna Ghey murder trial given note of alleged plan to kill her

A plan for how to kill Brianna Ghey, allegedly written by the girl accused of murdering her, has been given to a jury and details how, where and when she and her co-defendant would stab the teenager to death in a Warrington park, a court has been told.

The neatly written note, which has a love heart and a smiley face in the corner, was given to jurors on the ninth day of the two 16-year-olds’ murder trial at Manchester crown court, along with a second note that described her alleged accomplice as a “sociopath”.

Headed “Saturday 11^th February 2023. Victim: Brianna Ghey”, it was allegedly written by the girl, known as X to protect her identity, the jury was told. It was found crumpled up in the bedroom of X a month after she and a boy, known as Y, were arrested for the killing.

It reads: “Meet [Y] at wooden posts 1pm. Walk down to library … busstop. Wait until Brianna gets of bus then the 3 of us walk to linear park. Go to the pipe/tunnel area. I say code word to [Y]. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in the stomach. [Y] drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc.”

Brianna, who was transgender, was found dead in Culcheth Linear Park on 11 February this year by a couple walking their dogs. She had been stabbed 28 times.

Her blood was found on Boy Y’s trainers and jacket, the jury heard. No blood was found on Girl X’s clothing. Both teenagers, who were 15 at the time of the attack, blame each other for the killing.

Prosecutors have told the jury the pair planned to kill Brianna and, irrespective of who wielded the knife, both are guilty of murder.

As the prosecution case drew to a close on Thursday, the jury were read a list of agreed facts, which included copies of various notes found in X’s bedroom in Culcheth on 17 March 2023, more than a month after she was arrested.

As well as the alleged murder plan, the girl had written out a list of Y’s attributes, prosecutors said. Top of the list was “trustworthy”, followed by: “funny, sociopath, good sense of humour, genius level, not sociable”.

There was also a note headed: “People that need to go”, followed by a series of initials, and one which read: “Give them alcohol with sleeping pills, slit throat, dismember body, place pieces in bin bags – bury bags 7 feet underground”. A roll of bin bags was also found in her room.

Other notes showed the girl’s fascination with serial killers. She listed the different kinds of mass murderers – “visionary/ mission orientated/ hedonistic/control oriented” – and noted that some may be “superficially charming” but demonstrate “cruelty to animals” or “fire setting” and “bed wetting beyond the age of five”.

The defence case is expected to begin on Friday.