Teenage boy accused of murdering Brianna Ghey told police he saw girl stab her, court hears

A teenage boy accused of murdering Brianna Ghey told police he saw his co-accused stabbing her, a court has heard.

Boy Y and girl X, who cannot be named because of their ages, are both accused of murdering the transgender teenager, who was found stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, on the afternoon of 11 February.

Both defendants, aged 15 at the time and now both 16, deny murder and are blaming each other as being responsible for the teenager’s death, Manchester Crown Court has heard.

Jurors were shown footage of police interviews with the suspects following their arrests the day after 16-year-old Brianna’s death.

Boy Y said girl X had invited Brianna, who he had never met before, to meet up and go to the park and suggested an area near a bench.

He said: “I turned away to go to the toilet behind a tree. When I turned back around I saw X stabbing Brianna. Brianna was on the floor.”

Boy Y told detectives he saw Brianna curled up on the floor as girl X stood over her with a knife.

He added: “I went to check if Brianna was alive. I put my hands on her. I got blood all on my hands.”

A detective asked him: “Did you see where the blood was coming from?”

“Everywhere,” boy Y replied.

He said girl X stopped stabbing Brianna because she saw another member of the public in the park and she ran away. He claimed he followed, and both of them then walked away from the park.

Boy Y said: “I asked her why she did it. She said Brianna tried to break her and her boyfriend up.”

He said girl X appeared “calm”, but he was “shocked and panicked”.

Brianna killed with knife belonging to boy, jurors told

Boy Y told police he did not see the knife and did not know what girl X did with it afterwards.

But jurors have been told it is now accepted Brianna was killed with a hunting knife belonging to boy Y, which was found in his bedroom at his home address, with Brianna’s blood still on the weapon.

Neither defendant disputes that in the days and weeks before Brianna’s death they had discussed and made plans to kill her, prosecutors told the court.

The same day boy Y was interviewed, girl X was also questioned by detectives when she claimed they were with Brianna in the park and she was “very happy” and “really smiley”, but then abruptly “stormed off” to meet a 17-year-old from Manchester who was picking her up in his car.

Girl X was told by police her phone messages would be analysed by them, but she denied there was anything on the device to do with Brianna’s death.

She then made “no comment” to further questions, the court heard.

The trial continues.