Attorney General: Sentences of Brianna Ghey’s killers are ‘acceptable’

Life sentences were passed onto Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe after they were convicted by unanimous verdict in December of the Birchwood schoolgirl’s murder after a four-week trial.

The pair of 16-year-olds, aged 15 at the time of the killing, were handed minimum terms of 22 and 20 years respectively by Justice Amanda Yip at Manchester Crown Court in February.

It has today, Tuesday, been confirmed that both Jenkinson, of Culcheth, and friend Eddie Ratcliffe, of Leigh, will not see their sentences referred to the Court of Appeal.

Both jail terms had been referred to the Attorney General to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

However, the sentences were not deemed to be lenient, and as such are 'acceptable'.

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s office said: “A referral can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient, but unduly so.

“Such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.

“The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met for these sentences.”

Brianna Ghey

Last month, it was revealed that Ratcliffe had lodged an appeal against his sentence with the Court of Appeal.

The court has confirmed that this appeal had been received, with the application to be reviewed by judges.

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, who was transgender, 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.”

Floral tributes were left at the scene at Culcheth Linear Park following the murder

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.

In sentencing, Justice Yip said Jenkinson was motivated by sadism and a desire to kill, with Ratcliffe’s motive, in part, transphobia.