A girl who is accused of the murder of Brianna Ghey told police that she "burst out crying" after learning that she had died.
The teenager and a boy, both of whom are aged 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, are currently standing trial at Manchester Crown Court charged with murdering the 16-year-old, who was knifed in the head, neck, back and chest during a "sustained and violent assault" in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington on February 11 this year. Girl X, from Warrington, and Boy Y, from Leigh, both deny this count and "blame each other".
Deanna Heer KC told the court during the prosecution's opening last week that messages between the two youths in the weeks and months before the stabbing "showed a preoccupation with violence and torture and death". The then 15-year-olds were also said to have discussed killing other children who they knew.
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A jury of seven men and five women were today played video recordings of interviews both defendants gave following their arrests on the evening of February 12 2023. Girl X said in her account: "I didn’t even find out about it until after it happened and it was on the news."
She said she had met Brianna off the bus and that the three had walked to the park together, after which: "We were walking around the forest for a bit. We were sat there chilling for a bit.
"She looked at her phone. She was like 'I need to go and meet this lad'.
"She wouldn't give me any information. She said he was 17 and from Manchester, he was going to pick her up.
"She started having a go at me 'saying stop interrogating me'. It’s none of my business.
"And she just walked off. That was around half 2, she ditched me.
"We didn’t know what to do. None of us followed after her.
"Boy Y was snapping at me saying 'it’s fine, leave it'. I didn’t hear from her for the rest of the night.
"I had a bit of a go at her, saying 'why did you just leave us?'. She didn’t respond."
Girl X said she had previously asked Brianna "if she wanted to come out because she was upset because she got suspended". She added: "I was asking her how she was since she got suspended.
"She was getting into arguments with her parents. She didn’t want to go back in because she hates her teachers.
"We was all sat there talking. She basically ditched us out of nowhere.
"She looked at her phone and said she was meeting some lad. She had a go at me saying, 'stop interrogating me, mind your own business'."
Before this, Brianna was reportedly "completely fine" and "seemed quite happy". Girl X told detectives: "She didn’t seem stressed or anything.
"She’s always on her phone really. She’s always doing Snapchats, she’s obsessed. The next thing she said she was going. I asked her where she was going, and she said she was meeting this lad. That’s when she ditched us."
Girl X said they were planning on "just sitting and hanging out", adding: "I was laughing to Brianna about Boy Y with this girl he likes. She was laughing the same.
"She was making little jokes. I remember talking to Brianna about what Boy Y is like and introducing them together, just things about what school is like and her complaining about teachers.
"They seemed a bit off. Boy Y didn’t seem to like Brianna much.
"He was really quiet around her. Whenever she tried to talk to him, he changed the conversation.
"He didn’t seem to like Brianna for some reason. He seemed cold and wasn’t talking much, it seemed from facial expressions and stuff that he didn’t like her."
When asked further about the "lad from Manchester", Girl Y said: "I think he’s from online. She talks to a lot of people.
"She vapes a lot as well. She’d always buy vapes off 20-year-old old men.
"I found it really dodgy that she was meeting these full grown men. She kept saying it’s nothing like that, it’s none of your business, leave me alone.
"I was just asking her who it was and how old he was, how did she know him. She wouldn’t really give me an answer.
"She seemed really angry. She kind of stormed off.
"She was frustrated, highering her voice and stuff like that. I’ve never seen her change like that, just flip out.
"It was just shock really, I was just stood there. Boy Y was kind of like 'leave it, it’s fine'.
"I listened to Boy Y. He said 'listen, it’s fine'.
"I had a gut feeling after we left Linear, I said we should go back. He started snapping at me."
Afterwards, Girl X reported that Boy Y was "in a mood" with her over the episode. She told detectives: "I just wanted to know if Brianna was ok.
"He was saying 'leave it, she’s fine'. It was kind of awkward, awkward silences.
"He kept saying she was completely fine. Don’t worry about it."
She described herself as being "annoyed and upset over Boy Y and Brianna, Brianna for leaving us and Boy Y for getting in a big strop with me". Girl X said she then returned home and "went upstairs and watched TV", as well as playing Minecraft and No Man's Sky on the PlayStation.
When asked how she found out that Brianna had died, she said: "My brother called my mum saying 'check the news, someone’s been killed in Culcheth'. A girl messaged me saying she saw me in Linear.
"She said Brianna was the person who got killed. I burst out crying."
Girl X said that she was "really and upset" and that she "went to her mum straight away", and the two had a "really emotional" conversation. When asked to describe Boy Y, she said: "He’s usually quiet.
"With Brianna it was different. He kept giving her weird looks – not a death glare, but just looking at her weird.
"I’m not sure if he didn’t like her in general. She’s a bit the opposite of him.
"Brianna’s really loud and outgoing. Boy Y is the opposite.
"Normally he’s quiet with new people, but he still talks. With Brianna it was really cold.
"I asked him a couple of times if he was ok, he said yeah. I just thought he might be a little bit down."
Of Brianna, Girl Y said: "She was quiet at first. She’d just been on a bus full of people.
"But she was happy. She’d just have bursts of energy.
"She seemed very happy. She was really smiley and stuff."
Girl X said she later messaged Brianna on Snapchat "having a bit of a go of her" but "felt bad and deleted it", then followed up asking if she was ok when she did not respond. She also said that she had blocked Boy Y on WhatsApp but unblocked him after learning of her death and told him "make sure you tell the police everything that happened".
The trial, before Mrs Justice Yip, continues. It is expected to last three to four weeks in total.
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