For weeks, Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe had been in it together.
Together, they had exchanged sickening WhatsApp message after sickening WhatsApp message at they planned in minute detail the murder of Brianna Ghey. It was a plan they had executed together too, stabbing the 16-year-old 28 times.
Then, true to form, they fled the scene together. But, later that afternoon, they went their separate ways and headed home.
READ MORE: Brianna Ghey sentencing live as teenage killers named
It was Jenkinson who hatched their cover story. She told Ratcliffe to follow her lead and tell the police, when they came knocking, that the three teenagers had been "chilling and talking" when Brianna suddenly and unexpectedly told them that she "needed to go and meet this lad" and left them.
This account was the one that she stood by under interview. But Ratcliffe had other ideas and turned on his partner in crime when quizzed by detectives, placing the blame squarely on her.
By his version of events, he had wandered off to urinate on a tree during their visit to Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington and, when he returned, he discovered that Jenkinson was stabbing Brianna. He said that he had then gone to check on the mortally injured schoolgirl, getting her blood on his hands, and thus his clothes, in the process.
Clutching a football he had been given in order to "ease his anxiety", Ratcliffe claimed that his co-defendant then began to run, and he had “panicked” and followed her before they both went home. But the cracks began to shown when he was asked about the hunting knife used to kill Brianna – which was found in his wardrobe, and which he said he had “never taken out of the house”.
And, after he was then told that her blood had been found on the blade, he gave no comment. The next time Jenkinson and Ratcliffe would be together, they would be sharing a dock in court.
Here, she returned the favour and claimed that he had been responsible for each and every blow inflicting upon Brianna. But the jury saw through both of their lies and unanimously convicted them of murder.
Jenkinson was today given a life term with a minimum of 22 years behind bars. Ratcliffe must serve at least 20 years before he will become eligible for release.
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