Mum says one thing 'could have prevented' daughter's death

Esther Ghey has revealed the “one thing” she believes would have had the potential to prevent her daughter from being 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 content shared on the dark web.

Since the devastating loss of her daughter, Esther has been an advocate for introducing mindfulness in schools and tightening regulations on internet access for young people.

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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 the podcast hosts talk with Mat Sears, the director of corporate affairs for EE. They discuss what mobile phone companies are doing to provide internet-safe phones for children and how social media forms need to tighten up age verification to stop kids from accessing harmful content underage.

Esther said: “I think it would be great if we could have a smartphone marketed for teenagers. Parents argue that they want them to have a phone so they know they are safe, and on the way to school, they can put trackers on their phones to see exactly where they are.

“But I think something that would be amazing and could’ve prevented Brianna’s death is harmful word monitoring. So if a child were searching for something potentially harmful to them or others, that would flag up on the parent's phone. Children and teenagers want phones that look like adult phones, and maybe it is time to educate parents on the Android phone rather than the Apple phone.”

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 said she 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."