Murder-accused teens 'preoccupied by torture'

TWO teenagers pre-occupied with violence, torture and death stabbed to death transgender teenager Brianna Ghey, a court heard.

-  ELEANOR BARLOW & PAT HURST

Brianna, 16, was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in her head, chest, back and neck while in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire, in February this year. The defendants, a girl, 16, identified only as X, and a boy, 16, identified only as Y, were both aged 15 at the time. Both deny murder.

Neither can be named by court order because of their age.

At the start of their trial the jury of seven men and five women were told they had made plans to kill other children before killing Brianna.

Girl X also liked to watch "dark web" torture videos and had become "obsessed" with Brianna, born a boy but who identified and lived as a girl, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Girl X, wearing a dress and grey cardigan and boy Y, wearing black trousers and shirt with a grey tie, sat in the dock listening as Deanna Heer KC opened the case for the prosecution.

Ms Heer said Brianna's body was discovered by dog walkers Kathryn and Andrew Vize, at about 3pm on February 11 in the park near Warrington.