This piece contains descriptions of incredibly graphic violence, as well as other disturbing content.
The jury has returned its verdict, with both defendants found guilty of the murder of Brianna Ghey. The two defendants, Girl X and Boy Y, had each blamed each other for Brianna’s murder.
Numerous references were made to Brianna Ghey’s trans status throughout the case. The court heard messages between X and Y. In these messages, X told Y that Brianna “has a dick lol”, with Y replying to ask whether she was a “tr*nny or a femboy” [censoring added]. Y later referred to Brianna as X’s “femboy thing”. In messages discussing killing Brianna Y told X he wanted to see whether Brianna “scream like a man or a girl”, and to see “what size dick it had”. Throughout the messages, Boy Y continually refers to Brianna as “it”.
In messages, the pair also discussed killing another child, who was gay – Boy R. In these messages, Y suggested if Boy R “ate his own dick we could call him gay” and that “if he fucked his own ass, he could always eat his balls instead”.
The court also heard how Brianna was bullied because she was transgender. The court heard that Brianna suffered from anxiety, self-harmed, was depressed sometimes, and was very nervous about going out. In her testimony, X agreed that Brianna was quite vulnerable, and said she would possibly be an easy person to kill.
When giving evidence, both defendants were asked about Brianna’s trans status. Girl X told the court that she did not have a problem with Brianna being transgender. X said she did not want to kill Brianna because she was transgender. In her evidence, X told the court that Boy Y “didn’t agree with” people who were trans and people who were gay.
When Boy Y was asked whether he felt any different towards Brianna because she was transgender, he denied this. When asked about his messages about Brianna, and why he used the language he did, he suggested that this was copied from his peers at school. Boy Y also denied that he felt entitled to hurt Brianna because she was transgender.
On Thursday, the final evidence was presented to the jury. Following this, the judge, Mrs Justice Yip, gave legal directions to the jury, and both the defence and prosecution made their closing speeches. The jury retired on Wednesday morning, and considered their verdict for just under 5 hours. They returned to court at 3pm this afternoon where both defendants were found guilty of murder.
