Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe jailed for Brianna Ghey murder

The pair of 16-year-olds, aged 15 at the time of the killing, were convicted by unanimous verdict of the Birchwood schoolgirl’s murder on December 20 after a four-week trial.

They appeared back before Manchester Crown Court today, Friday, to be sentenced for the heinous crime

They can also now be named as Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe – previously referred to only as girl X, from Warrington, and boy Y, from Leigh – after trial judge Justice Amanda Yip lifted reporting restrictions.

Both were handed life sentences, with Jenkinson to serve a minimum of 22 years and Ratcliffe a minimum of 20.

Justice Yipp said Scarlett was motivated by a desire to kill and Eddie in part by transphobia.

She added: "The question is if the murder was in part motivated by hostility towards Brianna as she was transgender.

"Scarlett, I have concluded your primary motive was your dep desire to kill.

"Messages show your sadistic motives.

"You enjoyed the killing. This was a murder involving sadistic conduct.

"Although Eddie your motives are not the same, you understand her desire to see Brianna suffer and participated knowing these sadistic motives.

"I find also that you Eddie were motivated in part by Brianna being transgender, dehumanising her by referring to her as ‘it’ and wanting to see if she screamed like a man or a girl.

"Just like you knew her motives, she knew yours.

"You both took park in a brutal and planned murder which was sadistic in nature and motivated by her transgender identity.

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"It is plain this was a murder of particularly high seriousness leading to a starting point of 20 years."

She also described the degree of planning that went into it.

"There was a significant degree of premeditation and planning, including planning to kill other people.

"The plans were in someway childish, notebooks being left in places easy to find, but planning remains a significant aggravating factor.

"Scarlett, you tried to kill Brianna by poisoning her, and you Eddie encouraged her.

"You picked Brianna as you both thought she would be an easy target.

"You Scarlett abused her trust. She thought you were her friend.

"Eddie, you knew Scarlett was preying on Brianna in this way, which aggravates your position.

"I have taken into account the brutality of the killing and the use of the knife, as well as the sadistic motive and transphobic element.

"The attempts to conceal evidence were not sophisticated.

"You committed the murder in broad daylight in a park with other people around, including a family and lots of dog walkers.

"It was always likely people would come across the scene and be caused trauma."

Brianna was killed last February

Brianna died aged 16 after being stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back in Culcheth Linear Park on the afternoon of February 11 last year.

The killers, both said their backs were turned when the other defendant began stabbing Brianna in a “frenzied” fashion.

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

Jurors heard Jenkinson 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 Jenkinson and Ratcliffe exchanged, including a "kill list" of other children they planned to harm.

On the opening day, prosecutor Deanna Heer said: “The prosecution case is that, whoever delivered the fatal blows, both defendants are equally guilty.

“Acting together, they planned and executed their plan to kill her.”

The jury heard how both defendants accepted that they were present in Linear Park with Brianna at the time she was killed, and boy Y accepted that he took his hunting knife with him.

However, both denied inflicting any injury upon her, and participating in her killing in any way, choosing instead to blame each other.

The prosecution did not have to prove who it was that wielded the knife – only that they both intentionally participated in the killing in some way, assisting or encouraging the other to commit the offence, intending that Brianna be killed or at the very least very seriously injured.

Ms Heer said: “The evidence clearly demonstrates that the defendants acted together to bring about Brianna’s death, and that they intended to kill her.

“The messages they exchanged show how they encouraged one another and egged each other on, how they thought about and discussed how to kill and how they planned to get Brianna to Linear Park, where they thought they would be undisturbed.

“How they each encouraged the other to bring a knife and how they planned to kill Brianna by stabbing her in the neck and the back, just as she was in fact stabbed in the neck and the back.

“In the aftermath of Brianna’s killing, they left the scene together and remained in contact with each other, keeping each other informed of the progress of the investigation and planning what they should say to the police.”

Jenkinson told the trial said she enjoyed “dark fantasies” but had no intention to ever turn them into reality, while Ratcliffe said he went along with them and did not take them seriously.