Two teenagers who murdered a transgender girl in the UK last year have been sentenced to life in prison.
Eddie Ratcliffe and Scarlett Jenkinson stabbed Brianna Ghey to death in Warrington, England in February 2023.
The two teens were 15 at the time. They were found guilty of murder in December and were sentenced on Saturday (NZ time). The sentencing judge said the pair were partly motivated to kill Ghey, who was 16, due to her being transgender.
“You picked Brianna because you both thought she would be an easy target," said Justice Amanda Yip.
Jenkinson was the "driving force" of the killing, who had a "deep desire to kill", Justice Yip added.
Justice Yip sentenced Jenkinson to a minimum of 22 years in prison and Ratcliffe to at least 20 years.
The pair, now 16, were named for the first time on Saturday.
Jenkinson pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted to a psychiatrist she stabbed Ghey "repeatedly" and found it "exciting".
What happened?
The murder happened on February 11 last year in Culcheth, Warrington - a town of 200,000 people near Liverpool.
On that day, Ghey had agreed to meet Jenkinson at Culcheth Linear Park.
Ghey was then stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in a daylight attack but it was interrupted when a couple walked past with their dogs.
Jenkinson and Ratcliffe allegedly spent months plotting to kill someone.
Prosecutors said the two sent thousands of messages to each other on WhatsApp about murder and torture plans before killing Ghey.
The planning and violence involved was "beyond belief", said deputy chief prosecutor Ursula Doyle in December.
"Brianna Ghey was subjected to a frenzied and ferocious attack."
Det Insp Nigel Parr said the "senseless murder" was carried out by "two teenagers who had an obsession with murder, whose only motivation in killing Brianna was to experience what this would be like".
Ghey dreamed of becoming a beauty therapist.
