Mum of murdered teenager reveals 'scariest thing' about today's society

Esther Ghey has revealed the “scariest thing” about the online world after her teenage daughter was brutally murdered. Brianna Ghey, from Warrington, was just 16 when she was deceitfully drawn to Culcheth Linear Park by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe.

The Birchwood Community High School student was caught off guard and stabbed 28 times on February 11 last year; her body was later found in the park by locals walking their dog.

The two teenage murderers orchestrated their heinous act through chilling messages on WhatsApp, drawing inspiration from dark web content. Since the devastating loss of her daughter, Esther has been an advocate for introducing mindfulness in schools and tightening regulations on internet access for the youth.

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In her latest effort to raise awareness, the mum-of-two is co-hosting a podcast series named Parents vs The Internet. This ten-episode series features Esther, a new product development technologist, teaming up with journalist Liz Hull to discuss with various guests "how we can keep our children safer".

The latest episode sees them talk about the “toxic” impact of misogynistic and sexist views shared online. Esther said: “As a parent, I’ve always been so focused on the eating disorder content and self-harm sites, but this type of content in itself is so harmful. It’s so harmful to society.

"If you did spot your children scrolling and watching this content, you might think they are just promoting a healthy lifestyle, but when you actually listen, it's not. That’s the scariest thing: parents are losing control of how to bring their children up because they are being influenced by all these people online.“

Throughout the podcast, listeners will delve into topics such as mobile phone companies' responsibility in child safeguarding and how to configure phones to be suitable for different ages.

Esther has previously expressed her belief that her daughter Brianna would have been much happier without a smartphone in her final years. She said: "She was so protective over her phone. If I asked to look at her phone, there would be holes in the door, and she would go absolutely mad because I took it off her."

"I really do believe, especially in the final years of Brianna's life, it would have been so much more peaceful and happier if the smartphone hadn't been there in the first place."

Esther launched the podcast not to "scaremonger" or "put fear" into other parents but rather to "educate them". She admitted to not being fully aware of the content Brianna was accessing or the extent of it. She added: "I wish I had known because when you are educated and have this knowledge, it is only then that you can actually make a change and that you can help."