One of the two teenagers convicted of the murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey should have the length of his sentence reduced as a judge failed to take into account his “maturity”, the Court of Appeal has heard.
Eddie Ratcliffe was detained for life with a minimum term of 20 years in February this year for the murder, along with co-defendant Scarlett Jenkinson, who received a minimum term of 22 years.
Brianna was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife during the fatal attack in Linear Park, Culcheth, near Warrington, in February last year, which the sentencing judge, Mrs Justice Yip, described as “exceptionally brutal”.
The point we make is age and maturity were very important issues in this case, and could very much affect the end result for this particular applicant
Ratcliffe, who was 15 at the time of the killing and is now 17, was also found to have been transphobic about his victim.
At a hearing on Thursday, lawyers for Ratcliffe, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and selective mutism, said that the judge failed to “sufficiently” take into account his age and maturity when deciding his sentence.
The Crown Prosecution Service is opposing the appeal bid.
Speaking at the court in London, Richard Littler KC, for Ratcliffe, said: “It is culpability and maturity which are at the heart of this application.”
Mr Littler continued: “It is right to say that on any analysis of the applicant’s maturity, he is closer to the starting point of a 14-year-old rather than a 17-year-old boy.”
He added: “The point we make is age and maturity were very important issues in this case, and could very much affect the end result for this particular applicant.”
Mr Littler said that Ratcliffe was found to have “poor social skills” and “immaturity”, as well as “a lower-than-expected ability to express what he thinks or articulate his ideas”, adding that the sentence was “far too high”.
He said: “There is no doubt they were taken into account, but they were not taken into account fully.”
Ratcliffe is attending the hearing via a video link, dressed in a dark suit, shirt and tie, with his mother present in court.
The court was told that Brianna’s family are also in attendance remotely.
The earlier trial at Manchester Crown Court heard that Brianna had thousands of followers on TikTok, but in reality was a withdrawn, shy and anxious teenager who struggled with depression and rarely left her home.
Jurors were told that the two killers were intelligent, “high-functioning” and came from normal backgrounds, but had a fascination for violence, torture and murder and a “thirst for killing”.
Jenkinson, who lived close to the park in Culcheth, had been asked to leave her school, Culcheth High, over giving cannabis-laced gummy sweets to another pupil and joined Brianna’s school, Birchwood High, in October 2022.
She quickly became “obsessed” with Brianna, and along with Ratcliffe drew up a “kill list” of four other youths they wanted to harm until Brianna had the “misfortune” to be befriended by Jenkinson.
The pair discussed the murder for weeks, detailed in Jenkinson’s handwritten murder plan and phone messages found by detectives.
Jenkinson also told Ratcliffe she wanted to stab Brianna “jus coz its fun lol… I want to see the pure horror on her face and hear her scream”.
They lured Brianna to Linear Park on February 11 last year where she was attacked with Ratcliffe’s hunting knife, which had a 13cm blade.
She was stabbed in the head, neck, chest and back, with Jenkinson deleting a Snapchat conversation between them and inventing a cover story.
But both teenagers were arrested an hour later, with the murder weapon and blood-stained clothing found in Ratcliffe’s bedroom.
The overwhelming evidence is that Eddie is a highly intelligent young man.
Deanna Heer KC, for the CPS, said Ratcliffe’s attitude towards Brianna was “dehumanising” and that the killing involved “sadistic conduct”, adding that the sentence was not “manifestly excessive”.
She added that the minimum term was “appropriate… on the evidence in the case” and that Ratcliffe’s autism diagnosis “did not prevent him from understanding what he was doing”.
Ms Heer said: “The overwhelming evidence is that Eddie is a highly intelligent young man.
“It was apparent from the evidence that Eddie was neither suggestible nor biddable.
“Eddie demonstrated himself throughout to be just as enthusiastic about what they were going to do as Scarlett.”
The hearing before Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Murray and Mr Justice Lavender will conclude later on Thursday.
