A boy accused of luring Brianna Ghey to her death in a park told police he had been ‘playing along’ with a ‘fantasy’ dreamt up by a teenage girl who had boasted about already having killed people, a court heard today.
But the 16-year-old, who can only be referred to as Boy Y, agreed that the ‘joke’ had ‘gone too far’ when Brianna was stabbed 28 times and left dying face-down in the mud, jurors were told.
The boy, who was 15 at the time, admits bringing a hunting knife when he and his co-accused, Girl X, arranged to meet up with 16-year-old Brianna, who was transgender.
However he denies inflicting the fatal wounds, claiming he turned away for a moment before seeing Girl X – also then aged 15 – stab Brianna ‘at least three times’ before the pair fled.
Boy Y and Girl X, who are said to have been fascinated by torture, violence and death, deny murdering Brianna in Culcheth Linear Park near Warrington, Cheshire on February 11.
Brianna Ghey died aged 16 when she was stabbed 28 times in Culcheth Linear Park near Warrington, Cheshire on February 11
Brianna wearing a pink dress with a handbag draped over her shoulder is pictured with her mother Esther
Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour told jurors Brianna (pictured) was the victim of a ‘sustained and violent assault’
A handwritten alleged ‘murder plan’ to kill Brianna was later found in the bedroom of Girl X, who was obsessed with serial killers and had described herself as a ‘Satanist’, the trial has heard.
Click here to listen to the Mail’s new podcast The Trial
The Trial… takes listeners behind the headlines and into the courtrooms of some of the biggest trials in the world.
The first series ‘The Trial of Lucy Letby’ was a global hit, with more than 13 million downloads, while season two focused on the murder of Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old teacher from Ireland.
Its third season follows the tragic case of Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old transgender girl killed in Warrington, England.
Follow the evidence as the jury hears it, in twice-weekly reports from The Daily Mail’s Northern Correspondent Liz Hull and broadcast journalist Caroline Cheetham.
Details of the injuries which caused ‘catastrophic blood loss’ to Brianna were today spelt out to the jury at Manchester Crown Court by a Home Office pathologist who carried out a post mortem.
It took about two hours to detail the location of the injuries using computer-generated images.
Dr Alison Armour said the schoolgirl had been victim of a ‘sustained and violent assault’, suffering stab wounds which would have required ‘considerable force’ to inflict.
One of the knife wounds alone would have been sufficient to prove fatal, she said.
The injuries were ‘consistent’ with Boy Y’s 12cm (4¾in) hunting knife which was found, with Brianna’s blood still on it, in his bedroom following his arrest the following evening, Dr Armour said.
She was quizzed by Richard Pratt KC, defending Girl X, as to whether it would be ‘fair to say they also required considerable strength?’
‘Someone who is fairly strong,’ he added.
Dr Armour replied: ‘It requires a degree of strength, I accept that.’
Girl X had told Boy Y that she had previously killed two people as they swapped messages about a list of five children they wanted to kill, the trial has heard.
When their first intended target blocked Instagram messages from Girl X, the pair are said to have turned their attention to Brianna, with whom she had become ‘obsessed’, it was claimed.
In further police interviews played to the jury today, Boy Y – who the court has heard was diagnosed with autism following his arrest – said he thought Girl X was ‘joking’ in messages about killing Brianna.
He said online chats about people she had supposedly killed before was his way of ‘playing along with that fantasy’, saying he wrote things ‘I don’t actually believe’ in order to ‘fit in’.
‘She likes to make up lots of stories and things,’ he said.
Read Related Also: ‘I am pretty sure I am the culprit’: Man who ‘crushed’ girlfriend to death, fracturing ribs 50 times, sentenced to 20 years
Questioned about a comment to Girl X that he was going to ‘research Chinese torture’, Boy Y answered that he liked to know ‘how they used to punish people’ from studying history.
CCTV footage showed Brianna boarding a bus as she made her final journey to a park in Culcheth
Police at the scene in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington following the death of Brianna Ghey
Police and forensics at Linear Park in Culcheth, Warrington, where the body of Brianna was discovered
Asked about why he referred to Brianna as ‘it’ in one message, Boy Y said he and his friends would ‘make jokes about gayness’.
But he insisted: ‘I don’t actually care if anyone is gay or not.
‘With them, I make it seem like I do.’
In a police interview two days after Brianna’s death, Boy Y was asked: ‘At what point would it have stopped being a joke?’
Boy Y replied: ‘If I’d seen that she was carrying a knife I would have questioned it.’
The officer said: ‘You’re talking about taking a hunting knife out with you.’
Boy Y replied: ‘I’m not good at judging what jokes are. I think I go too far with jokes.’
Officer: ‘Do you think this joke has possibly gone too far?’
Boy Y: ‘Yeah. I see it now. But then I didn’t notice it.’
He said he had been trying to ‘appease’ Girl X, saying he thought she was ‘making up stories’ as she had said she was ‘writing a book’.
‘I don’t believe anything she says,’ he added.
Earlier Dr Armour told the jury that Brianna’s cause of death was multiple stab wounds ‘to the chest, neck, head and sides of the body’, with her heart and both lungs penetrated.
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, asked the pathologist whether Boy Y’s hunting knife – bought on a skiing trip – was ‘a candidate for causing some or all of these wounds’.
‘Yes, it is,’ Dr Armour replied.
Brianna’s mother Esther (left) arrives at Manchester Crown Court on the first day of the murder trial
Brianna’s father Peter Spooner wears a black jacket as he walks into court holding the hand of his partner
She said she could not exclude the possibility another knife, of similar size, could have been used to inflict the wounds – but there was no positive evidence suggesting the use of a second knife.
Girl X, now 16, of Warrington, followed the pathology evidence via a video link to the secure unit where she is being held and appeared to take notes.
The court was told by trial judge Mrs Justice Yip that Boy Y was in the court building but had asked not to come into court for the pathology evidence.
The judge said she had had to give careful consideration to the participation of both defendants and had been advised that this was the best way of managing Boy Y, who is from Leigh, Greater Manchester.
Both defendants deny murder.
The trial continues.
