Brianna Ghey was enveloped in darkness, inquest told

An inquest into the death of murder victim Brianna Ghey heard she struggled with her mental health and was “enveloped in darkness” before she died.

Brianna, who was 16, was stabbed to death by teenagers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe in Culcheth Linear Park, in Warrington, in February 2023.

The two killers, who were both 15 at the time, are serving minimum sentences of 22 and 20 years respectively after being convicted of the transgender teenager’s murder.

Her family have said they want answers about why one of her killers was transferred to her school.

The inquest opened at Cheshire Coroner’s Court in Warrington earlier.

It heard Jenkinson was moved from Culcheth High School to Birchwood High School in a “managed transfer” because of her behaviour.

Coroner Jacqueline Devonish said one of the issues the inquest will deal with is whether it could have been reasonably foreseen that Brianna was placed at risk by being in the same inclusion room at the school as Jenkinson.

Brianna’s father, Peter Spooner, told the hearing he wanted to know how both schools had dealt with the transfer and which staff at Birchwood knew about Jenkinson’s background.

The inquest also heard about the mental health problems Brianna had before she was killed.

In a statement read to the court, her mother, Esther Ghey, described how Brianna was hyperactive when she was growing up, before she began living as a girl.

Earlier in her teenage years, she developed an eating disorder that resulted in her being hospitalised, the inquest heard.

The hearing was also told that when Brianna wanted to transition to being female, she had threatened to kill herself if she did not receive hormone medication.

Ms Ghey said: “I don’t know if she would have [taken her own life] but I couldn’t take the risk.”

Brianna started taking puberty blockers and oestrogen, the inquest was told.

Her mother said Brianna’s mental health deteriorated in lockdown and she began to live her life mainly online.

She looked at Twitter accounts that promoted eating disorders and self-harm.

After lockdown, Brianna did not attend lessons in school because of anxiety.

“She went down a hole of negativity,” Ms Ghey said.

At one stage, Ms Ghey took Brianna’s phone off her and said she seemed so much happier – describing her at the hearing as “a different child”.

She said: “When police came to the door [in February 2023] I just knew something like this was going to happen. It was such a dark time.

“When Brianna was younger, she was a bundle of joy, in later years she was enveloped in darkness.

“It sometimes feels like I’m grieving two different people.”

The inquest continues.