Brianna Ghey killer ‘sounded ‘happy’ on the phone to his mum after frenzied attack

One of Brianna Ghey’s teenage killers ‘sounded happy’ when his mother spoke to him less than an hour after the 16-year-old’s death in a frenzied attack, her inquest heard yesterday.

In her first statement since her son Eddie Ratcliffe was jailed for life, Alice Hemmings, 37, told how she phoned him that afternoon while oblivious to the brutal murder.

The ski instructor said Ratcliffe lied that he had spent the day ‘chasing Pokemon’ – a reference to a computer game – and had bought a baguette for his lunch. In a statement to the inquest, made just two days after Brianna’s murder, she said her son was ‘sensitive’ and ‘very caring’ with ‘good morals’ but was ‘socially awkward’.

Brianna, who was transgender, was killed after being lured to a park in Culcheth, Cheshire on February 11, 2023. There she was horrifically stabbed 28 times by Ratcliffe and his friend, teacher’s daughter Scarlett Jenkinson, both then 15, using a hunting knife that his parents bought him during a holiday to Bulgaria.

Brianna was a star on TikTok for her hair and make-up videos, but in real life was isolated and anxious and rarely went out alone.

The killing left the nation struggling to comprehend how two children from stable family backgrounds could have plotted and carried out the killing. Jenkinson attended Culcheth High School with Ratcliffe.

But after leaving a 13-year-old girl in hospital by giving her a cannabis-spiked sweet in October 2022, she was transferred in a “managed move” to Birchwood Community High School in Warrington where she met Brianna.

The inquest in Warrington will examine what information her new school was given about Jenkinson, and whether the risks of placing her in the inclusion unit with Brianna were assessed. In a statement read by senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish, Ms Hemmings said her son had been invited to consider a future Oxbridge application based on his predicted GCSE grades.

She dropped a “tense, moody” Ratcliffe off in Culcheth at about 12.30pm on the day of the murder, believing he was meeting a male friend. Passers-by saw Brianna walking with Jenkinson and Ratcliffe.

The teenage killers were next caught on camera at 3.15pm after they half-ran, half-walked across a field, leaving Brianna bleeding to death.

Soon after, a dog walker raised the alarm. Ms Hemmings said she called Ratcliffe at about 4pm to ask if he needed collecting, but he told her “he wanted to stay out”.

She said he “sounded happy.

Later at home in Leigh he told her he had “chased Pokemon and bought a ham and cheese baguette”.

“Eddie is a good child with good morals and a loving, caring family,” she added.

A statement was read on behalf of Brianna’s mother Esther recalling how at primary school she was “mischievous, funny and outgoing”.

From the age of 14 her mental health began to suffer, but she was “declined treatment” by child and adolescent mental health services. Brianna was diagnosed with ADHD, began suffering from an eating disorder and self-harming.

In 2020 she started dressing as a female, saying she wanted to start transitioning. Ms Ghey was “worried about the effect of puberty blockers” but reluctantly let her obtain them privately after she threatened to kill herself.

During lockdown, Brianna spent most of her time on social media, her mother said. Ms Ghey said she was “relieved” when Brianna met Scarlett Jenkinson at the inclusion unit as she struggled to make friends.

Contrasting how Brianna went from being an “energetic bundle of joy” to a teenager “immersed in darkness.”’

She added: “It sometimes feels like I’m grieving two different people.”

Giving evidence, Brianna’s father Peter Spooner, 43, said he struggled to deal with her being transgender and they “fell out”.

After he apologised they chatted online “a lot”, he said.

Last February, Jenkinson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years and Ratcliffe was given life with a minimum of 20 years.

The inquest continues.

Lifeline: 13 11 14.