Brianna Ghey killers named as Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe and sentenced to combined 42 years

The killers of transgender teenager Brianna Ghey have been sentenced to a combined 42 years in prison after being found guilty of the murder of the 16-year-old.

Brianna was stabbed 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back after being lured to a park in Warrington by murderers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe on 11 February 2023.

At Manchester Crown Court on Friday, Justice Amanda Yip sentenced Jenkinson to a minimum of 22 years in prison. Ratcliffe was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her murder. After these terms have been served it will be up to the parole board to decide if they should be released.

The two were aged 15 when they murdered Brianna in a 'frenzied and ferocious' attack with a hunting knife after hatching a 'disturbing' plan to kill her. Brianna was found by two dog walkers in Linear Park, Culcheth.

Following their conviction on December 20, judge Mrs Justice Yip agreed to lift anonymity when the pair were sentenced. Jenkinson and Ratcliffe were previously only known as Girl X and Boy Y, due to laws granting children anonymity in court.

As she sentenced the pair, Mrs Justice Yip told them they would "only be released if you can no longer be seen as a danger," adding: "If you remain a danger, you may never be released".

She spoke of how the killers had known each other since they were 11, years before they carried out the brutal murder. She also said that Ratcliffe's autism diagnosis does not explain the way he spoke of Brianna in a way hostile to her transphobia. Ratcliffe had referred to Brianna as "it" in messages sent to Jenkinson.

During the sentencing, as she addressed Jenkinson, Justice Yip said the killing was "a murder involving sadistic conduct" and said "you enjoyed the killing."

Despite neither being in trouble with the police before, and both being intelligent and "high-functioning," the pair had planned her murder for weeks, and detectives even found a handwritten murder plan. The hunting knife was found in the boy’s bedroom, with traces of Brianna’s blood.

Jenkinson had previously developed an interest in serial killers, and made notes on their methods and enjoyed 'dark fantasies' around killing and torture. She said she never intended any of the fantasies to become reality.

During a trial at Manchester Crown Court, they denied murder and each blamed the other for the killing. Both said their backs were turned when the other one suddenly began stabbing Brianna.

On 20 December, a jury of seven men and five women convicted the two following a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court after four hours and 40 minutes of deliberations.