A court was informed that a 16-year-old girl, who is being charged with the murder of transgender teenager Brianna Ghey in a Warrington park, has denied holding any anti-transgender beliefs. The accused also stated that she found Brianna attractive.
The individual referred to as X for privacy reasons testified to the jury that their co-defendant, a 16-year-old named Y, was not accepting of transgender or gay individuals.
The girl stated that this was the reason why the boy often used “it” instead of “she” when talking about Brianna in their WhatsApp conversations leading up to the murder at Culcheth Linear Park on Saturday, February 11th of this year.
On Friday, while testifying at Manchester Crown Court, the girl revealed that she had previously questioned her gender identity and would interact with others online by pretending to be a boy named Nathan.
The prosecution argues that she assumed the identity of Nathan to inform Brianna that he was a drug dealer and would be providing them with cocaine on the day of the murder.
The 16-year-old girl denies committing murder and instead accuses Y of stabbing Brianna 28 times.
She testified to the jury that she would imagine death and torture, and feigned interest in killing Brianna and other children as part of her “fantasies”, but never actually intended to harm anyone.
During the questioning by her barrister, Richard Pratt, KC, the girl stated that she derived pleasure from viewing videos depicting death and torture on the dark web.
At 14 years old, she became intrigued by what Pratt referred to as “dark materials,” specifically murder, torture, and serial killers.
“I came across something intriguing- the distinct personalities of serial killers and their varying methods of execution,” she stated.
She confessed to Y that she was responsible for the deaths of two individuals, one of whom was a boy named “Laydon”, but claimed it was only a figment of her imagination.
When questioned about why she informed Y that she had murdered “Laydon”, Girl X stated, “I wanted to create the illusion that I was a serial killer, to add to the fantasy.”
She maintained that Laydon was an actual individual who socialized with boys she disliked, and confessed to contacting the authorities in May 2022, alleging that he was stalking her. The jury has been informed that the police were unable to locate anyone fitting her description.
Girl X said she met Brianna in October and that they became friends. She said the two of them would hang out together “because neither of us liked to socialise much”. Asked if she found Brianna attractive, she said: “Yes I did.”
The jury was informed that she had expressed her “obsession” with Brianna to Y. While testifying with the help of an intermediary, she stated, “I am uncertain why I made that statement. Perhaps I was unable to articulate my thoughts accurately. I found her to be incredibly intriguing.”
When asked about why Y referred to Brianna as “it”, she explained that he didn’t support transgender or gay individuals, so he used “it” instead of “she” to address Brianna.
Pratt inquired, “Did you hold any anti-transgender beliefs during that time or at any point?” She responded, “No.”
She stated, “I was intrigued by her… we had a great connection.”
According to previous testimony, X stated that they had tried to poison Brianna with ibuprofen a couple of weeks prior to her death. Brianna’s mother, Esther Ghey, informed the authorities that Brianna was extremely sick during this time and she believed it was due to appendicitis.
X refuted any claims of giving Brianna ibuprofen, stating that they had only bought random pills from Asda to experiment with getting high. She maintained that she never attempted to secretly harm Brianna. X also admitted to researching the potential for overdose on ibuprofen due to having suicidal thoughts.
X informed the jury that she resorted to using knives as a way to cope with her anxiety and that she had sought assistance from child and adolescent mental health services.
She confessed to having a conversation about murdering a boy named E, who Boy Y referred to as a “nonce.” She testified that E had been sending messages to an 11-year-old girl, and she created a fake Instagram account with the intention of asking him about his plans with the Year 6 girl.
However, she maintained that her intention was never to cause harm to E.
The court proceedings will continue next Monday.
Source: theguardian.com
