Brianna Ghey: Cheshire Police on why they think she was targeted

The views were given during a press conference following two youths being found guilty of murdering the Birchwood schoolgirl in Culcheth Linear Park on February 11.

Brianna died aged 16 after being stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest in what the prosecution described as a “frenzied” attack.

She was “lured” to the park by two 15-year-olds, now aged 16, referred to during the trial only as girl X, from Warrington, and boy Y, from Leigh, due to their age.

Both defendants denied murdering Brianna, who was transgender, and blamed each other for her death.

The trial heard both defendants had a fascination for violence, torture and murder and had planned the killing for weeks.

Jurors heard girl X was “obsessed” with Brianna, enjoyed watching internet torture and killing material from the “dark web” and had an interest in serial killers.

The jury was also shown a murder plan on how to kill Brianna, along with phone messages girl X and boy Y exchanged, including a kill list of other children they planned to harm.

Detective chief superintendent Mike Evans, Cheshire Police’s head of crime, was asked by members of the press why he thinks the pair targeted Brianna.

He said: “So Brianna, I would say from her lifestyle, her being an anxious child who stayed indoors a lot, was quite a vulnerable individual.

“She was very withdrawn, and she had a small social circle.

Brianna Ghey was murdered in Culcheth Linear Park

“The fact of her lack of confidence and anxiety, and the fact this was the first time she had been out alone for a while, I think made her quite vulnerable.

“That, and her being quite trusting of the girl involved who befriended her, I think made her relatively easy in terms of accessibility.”

He went on to say: “We know girl X had a bit of an obsession with her. She says that herself with text messages. But I don't think this was any sort of almost hatred or ill feeling towards Brianna.

“There is a level of betrayal. We know from text messages to her mum that Brianna was nervous to be out of the house.

“She thought she was going to meet someone who she thought was a friend, who she trusted, and that makes it really quite sad.

“I think if it hadn't been Brianna, it would have been one of the other children on their list.

“It is just that Brianna was the one who was accessible at that time, and then became the focus of those desires so to speak.”

Ursula Doyle, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the CPS, added: “I think in terms of accessibility, the contact that that girl X had with Brianna allowed her effectively to lure Brianna, as part of the plan, to the park where the killing was carried out.

“There was obviously a list of a number of young people who could have been potential victims, but it fell into place in terms of Brianna, in effect.”

On if they hadn’t been caught, would there have been other victims, DCS Evans said: “It is really difficult to say.

“We have had those conversations. I have no idea is the honest answer.

Floral tributes to Brianna were laid at Culcheth Linear Park in February

“They did not seem to be bothered by what they had done, which maybe leads to that could have been, but God knows.”

As Brianna was identified as the person who had been killed, many were quick to point to her being transgender as the reason for the killing – despite not knowing any of the facts.

DCS Evans was also asked about this and commented: “Within 48 hours of the murder, we had no information or intelligence to suggest this was a hate crime.

“We never said it wasn't a hate crime, but from very early on, we had a 16-year-old girl with a significant number of injuries.

“Any senior investigating officer would then go through the thought process of what this could be.

“It could be sexually motivated, it could be this, it could be that. Hate element was one of these, but the truth is, the vast majority of people who are murdered are murdered by someone they know.”

He continued: “We had started to get the descriptions of the two individuals who had left as part of our media appeal.

“As those bits fell into place, there was nothing there that suggested Brianna was murdered because she was transgender.

“I accept now, looking at the text messages and on the sort of side of the boy, there is some horrific dehumanising and transphobic messages.

“But when you look at the girl involved, she almost admires or is obsessed with Brianna, so I still think to this day Brianna wasn't killed because she was transgender.

“Brianna was killed for the reasons we discussed earlier, and possibly the fact she was transgender made her that little bit more vulnerable and accessible.”