The mothers of Brianna Ghey and one of the teenagers convicted of her murder have met to discuss the dangers of mobile phones for children and the “challenges of parenting”.
Esther Ghey had a “positive and respectful meeting” last week with Emma Sutton, whose 16-year-old daughter, Scarlett Jenkinson, was described by a judge as the “driving force” behind Brianna’s “exceptionally brutal” stabbing.
Ghey said she did not feel “any anger or resentment” towards Sutton, a former home economics teacher, and would be willing to campaign with her.
Jenkinson told a jury she was only 14 when she started watching violent films of killing and torture, using a browser she had downloaded on to her phone to access the dark web. She and her co-accused, Eddie Ratcliffe, also 16, exchanged thousands of text messages as they meticulously planned Brianna’s murder in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington in February 2023.
Jenkinson was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years for what the Crown Prosecution Service said was “one of the most disturbing cases” its lawyers had ever dealt with. Ratcliffe, a quiet and studious former champion kickboxer, was given 20 years for killing Brianna, an “out and proud” transgender girl who hoped to become a beauty therapist.
Jenkinson’s uncle was also at the in-person meeting, which took place in their home town of Warrington. Afterwards, Ghey told the BBC: “The tragedy last year has affected so many, and changed so many lives. We lost our beautiful Brianna, but Scarlett’s family’s lives have been changed for ever too. I wanted to sit down with Scarlett’s family to find out how the last year had affected them.
“It was a positive and respectful meeting, which allowed us to initially get to know each other. Although I don’t want to go into any detail, we discussed family and the challenges of parenting.”
She said Sutton was interested in Peace and Mind UK, a community interest company set up by Esther to campaign for mindfulness training into schools and better child safeguarding for social media and mobile phones.
“She agreed that things need to change, so we are looking at ways in which she can support both campaigns. I would welcome the chance of working with her moving forwards. “I didn’t feel any anger or resentment towards Scarlett’s mum, in fact it showed that tragedies have far-reaching ripples.
“It has been a tough year but I have been maintaining my mindfulness, which I believe has helped with resilience, compassion and empathy. Meeting Scarlett’s mum has reminded me how important that is to me.”
She added: “If Scarlett’s mum is keen to join me in our mission – then I’d welcome her support. However, at present we don’t have any firm plans on if or how that will happen.”
Last week Esther met the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, Michelle Donelan, to discuss her campaigns, having met Keir Starmer earlier in the month.
