Brianna Ghey’s mother planning to meet parents of daughter’s killer

Transgender 16-year-old was brutally stabbed by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe

The mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has said she is planning to meet the parents of her daughter’s killers.

The transgender 16-year-old was brutally stabbed by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both now aged 16 but who were 15 at the time, after they lured her to Culcheth Linear Park near Warrington on 11 February last year.

But Brianna’s mother Esther Ghey said she does not blame the parents of Jenkinson and Ratcliffe and has told of her plans to meet with the former’s mother “to know more about how it was for her”.

Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, has said she is planning to meet the parents of her daughter’s killers (Getty Images)

Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Ms Ghey, who has previously spoken about wanting to meet Jenkinson’s mother, said: “I don’t blame the parents. And they’ve also been through something really horrific, they’ve had to sit in court and listen to what their children have done.

“I’d like to meet Scarlett’s mother. It is potentially something that will be happening, but it will be happening in a very private and personal way. I’d like to know more about how it was for her.”

Ms Ghey also revealed to LBC that her daughter originally wanted to be called Britney, describing the decision as an “argument point in the house”, before she ended up choosing Brianna.

She then disclosed to the broadcaster that she and her partner Wes Powell will be getting married in June in a “very small family get-together”.

She said: “He’s been my absolute rock, he’s such a good man and has been such an amazing stepfather to my children.” She added that Brianna “definitely would” have been the first person on the dance floor.

Brianna Ghey was murdered after she was lured to Culcheth Linear Park near Warrington on 11 February 2023 (PA Wire)

Earlier this month, a judge said Brianna’s “exceptionally brutal” murder had elements of both sadism on the part of Jenkinson and transphobic hate on the part of Ratcliffe as she sentenced both to life imprisonment at Manchester Crown Court, with minimum terms of 22 years and 20 years respectively.

The harrowing four-week trial heard how the “warped” pair, whom Brianna believed to be her friends, had a fascination for violence, torture and murder – and shared a “thirst for killing”, with Jenkinson downloading a browser allowing her to search the “dark web” for “red rooms” showing real-life torture and killing videos.

Ms Ghey has subsequently begun campaigning for mobile phone companies to take more responsibility for safeguarding children against the risks of accessing harmful content.

In the round of television and radio interviews on Thursday, she said the Online Safety Act was a “step in the right direction” but she did not think it was sufficient to protect children.

Brianna Ghey was brutally stabbed by Scarlett Jenkinson (left) and Eddie Ratcliffe (right), both aged 16 but 15 at the time (PA Media)

Ms Ghey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t think the Online Safety Bill is enough. The internet and social media is so vast, I think it will be so hard to police.

“The second point is as well, that comments and free speech – and don’t get me wrong I am all for free speech – but some of the comments I have seen on social media posts and some of the articles that I’ve done, they are just hateful comments.

“The Online Safety Bill is not going to protect children and young people from seeing that kind of horrible content because I don’t think that will be deemed as harmful.

Labour leader Keir Starmer with Brianna Ghey’s mother Esther Ghey, who is campaigning for mobile phone companies to take more responsibility for safeguarding children against the risks of accessing harmful content (Supplied)

“Smartphone companies should have a moral responsibility and you should really want to do more.

“But I think that big companies like that are all about how much money they can generate and they don’t necessarily think about the impact it is having on the public, so I think that maybe there would have to be a law just to make sure it is properly enforced.”

Asked on BBC Breakfast what her message to prime minister Rishi Sunak would be, Ms Ghey said: “I think more needs to be done to protect children online.

“I think the Online Safety Bill is a step in the right direction but I don’t necessarily think it’s going to be enough to protect children.”

The legislation passed into law in November and requires social media companies to curb the spread of illegal content on their platforms and protect children from seeing potentially harmful material, with large fines among the potential penalties for those who breach the new rules.