Barrister explains why Brianna Ghey’s teenage murderers could be named
Brianna Ghey’s mother has called for empathy and compassion for the parents of her daughter’s killers as a judge has ruled the two teenage murderers can be named.
Esther Ghey called for “empathy and compassion” for the pair’s families as “they too have lost a child” and “must live the rest of their lives knowing what their child has done”.
Trial judge Mrs Justice Yip praised Ms Ghey for her “fortitude and humanity” at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday.
During the hearing, the judge also said the young killers can be identified by the media when they are sentenced on 2 February, lifting the anonymity orders previously protecting the defendants’ identities due to their age.
Brianna, 16, was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back in Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, on the afternoon of 11 February.
Following a four-week trial, the two teenagers accused, currently only identified as girl X and boy Y, both now aged 16 but 15 at the time, were convicted of murder on Wednesday and are now facing mandatory jail terms for life.
