Two British teenagers have been found guilty on Wednesday of the ‘disturbing’ murder of a 16-year-old transgender girl who died in a ‘frenzied and ferocious’ knife attack.
Born a man but raised as a woman, Brianna Ghey was stabbed 28 times in February in Warrington, northwest England, wounding her head, neck, back, and chest.
Dog walkers came across her body in a park.
During the trial, the court heard how the pair — a boy and a girl now aged 16 who cannot be named because of their ages — discussed killing Ghey in the days and weeks before she died.
The case drew international attention and shock in Britain, given the young age of the pair arrested.
A jury of seven men and five women convicted the two following a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Read Also: Reactions As Vatican Warms Up To Transgender Catholics
‘I will have to impose a life sentence,’ Judge Amanda Yip warned the two defendants.
‘What I have to decide is the minimum amount of time you will be required to serve before you might be considered for release.’
The court heard how one of the accused, girl X, had downloaded an internet browser app that allowed her to enjoy watching videos of the torture and murder of real people in ‘red rooms’ on the ‘dark web.’
The girl grew an interest in serial killers, making notes on their methods, and admitted enjoying ‘dark fantasies’ about killing and torture, the court was told.
The pair later drew up a ‘kill list’ of four other youths they intended to harm, until Ghey had the “misfortune” to be befriended by girl X, who became ‘obsessed’ with her, according to prosecutors.
Ghey had thousands of followers on the social media platform TikTok, but in reality, she was a withdrawn, shy and anxious teenager who struggled with depression and rarely left her home, the jury was told.
Deputy chief crown prosecutor Ursula Doyle said after the verdict that the case had been ‘one of the most distressing’ cases she has ever dealt with.