'We are truly sorry': Scarlett Jenkinson's family speak out as teen is sentenced for 'sadistic' killing of Brianna Ghey
3 February 2024, 00:12 | Updated: 3 February 2024, 00:18
The family of a teenage girl who was sentenced Friday for murdering Brianna Ghey has released a statement saying they are 'truly sorry' for their daughter's actions.
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Scarlett Jenkinson, 16, was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years for the "sadistic" murder of transgender teenager Brianna, alongside Eddie Ratcliffe, also 16, who was given a 20-year term.
Releasing a statement following the ruling, the family of Jenkinson said the past year was "beyond our worst nightmares as we have come to realise the brutal truth of Scarlett’s actions".
"All of our thoughts are for Brianna and her family," they told the Warrington Guardian. adding that they welcomed the "jury's verdict, the judge's sentence and the decision to name the culprits".
The two were publicly named for the first time on Friday - only previously referred to as Girl X and Boy Y - as they were found guilty of stabbing Brianna 28 times.
“Our lives are in turmoil, but our immediate focus is to make sure that we don’t do anything against the wishes of Brianna’s family," the statement said.
Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe seen being arrested and interviewed over murder of Brianna Ghey
“We offer our sincere thanks to Esther Ghey for her incredible selflessness and empathy towards our family. Her compassion is overwhelming and we are forever grateful.
“To all of Brianna’s family and friends, our community and everyone else that has been affected by this horror, we are truly sorry.”
The family requested that journalists not directly contact them and instead direct all email inquiries to a designated email address.
Jenkinson and Ratcliffe were both told they would only leave prison when they were no longer a danger, after stabbing Brianna 28 times in an attack called "frenzied, ferocious and sadistic".
Jenkinson "enjoyed" the killing, Manchester Crown Court heard, and the excitement caused her to stab Brianna more times and she found the thought of violence "sexually arousing". The court heard she had a desire to kill again.
Her accomplice Eddie Ratcliffe had also expressed transphobia about his victim, Mrs Justice Yip ruled.
The judge said the "exceptionally brutal" murder had elements of both sadism by Jenkinson and transphobic hate on the part of Ratcliffe.
Passing sentence Mrs Justice Yip told Ratcliffe: "I therefore find that you both took part in a brutal and planned murder, which was sadistic in nature and where a secondary motive was hostility towards Brianna because of her transgender identity."
Both - who were for the first time identified after the judge lifted a press naming ban - were aged 15 when they carried out the "disturbing" plan to murder Brianna, 16, in a "frenzied and ferocious" attack with a hunting knife.
They stabbed her in the head, neck, chest, and back after luring her to Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, on the afternoon of February 11, last year.
Jenkinson's parents are teachers and live close to the park in Culcheth. The 16-year-old had been asked to leave her previous school, Culcheth High, over giving cannabis-laced gummy sweets to another pupil. She then joined Brianna's school, Birchwood High, in October 2022 and quickly became "obsessed" with her.
Along with Ratcliffe, from Leigh, whose mother is a skiing instructor and whose father runs his own businesses, they drew up a "kill list" of four other youths they wanted to harm until Brianna had the "misfortune" to be befriended by Jenkinson.
Brianna's parents told the sentencing hearing the pair should never be released from prison.
Esther Ghey, her mother, said: "I don't believe that someone who is so disturbed and obsessed with murder and torture would ever be able to be rehabilitated."
Brianna's father, Peter Spooner, said: "No amount of time spent in prison will be enough for these monsters" as he branded his daughter's killers "pure evil".
Intelligent, "high-functioning" and coming from normal backgrounds, the trial heard Jenkinson and Ratcliffe had a fascination for violence, torture and murder and a "thirst for killing".
They were discussing Brianna's murder for weeks, detailed in Jenkinson's handwritten murder plan and phone messages found by detectives.
Jurors were told it was "difficult to fathom" how the two child defendants could carry out such a disturbing crime.
Ratcliffe has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and selective mutism. Jenkinson presents with a severe "conduct dissocial disorder" with "limited pro-social emotions", psychiatrists said.
The court heard that the medical diagnosis could not excuse their actions and both knew what they did was wrong.
A second "kill list" of staff caring for Jenkinson has been found written by her at the secure accommodation she is currently held at.
