Remembering Our Dead

TDoR 2023 / 2023 / February / 11 / Brianna Ghey

Brianna Ghey

Age 16 (born 7 Nov 2006)

11 Feb 2023
Warrington, Cheshire (United Kingdom)
Stabbed

TDoR list ref: tgeu/tdor2023/11-Feb-2023/Brianna Ghey

Brianna was stabbed in a park in a village near Warrington. Two teenagers were convicted of her murder and sentenced to life.

A teenage girl described as a "lovely kid" was stabbed to death in a park in Warrington - leading police forensics and dog teams to scour open fields in a Cheshire village.

Brianna Ghey, 16, was found dead by members of the public on a path in Culcheth's Linear Park, popular with dog-walkers, by members of the public at around 3.13pm Saturday (February 11). She had spoken to her mum earlier that day, but detectives said it was "too early to say" what the teenager was doing in the area and whether she had been to meet anyone.

A gymnastics coach, who knew the Birchwood High School pupil when she was slightly younger, told the ECHO: "She used to come into the gym in the school and do gymnastics with us, she was a lovely kid."

A TikTok account belonging to Brianna with 11,000 followers showed her dancing and lip-syncing to music, and dancing in a park, although it was unclear whether it was the same area where she was found dead. Her final video was posted only hours before she died.

Brianna was killed in a "targeted attack" and there was "no wider risk to the public" according to Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Evans, of Cheshire Police. However DCS Evans said he could not elaborate further other than to say the force was following "multiple lines of enquiry". Residents in the quiet estates surrounding the park expressed their shock at the sight of an air ambulance followed by "armed police" in the area around the park yesterday.

Brianna had transitioned several months before she died. In a final indignity, her death certificate will misgender her because she was too young to apply for a gender recognition certificate.

According to reports, Ghey had socially transitioned a number of months before her death, and had been on the receiving end of transphobic abuse for years. But due to Ghey's age and the British legal process for officially changing one's gender, it is expected that her sex will automatically be recorded as male on her death certificate. In the UK, a person needs to be 18, diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and have been living in their affirmed gender for at least two years in order to get a Gender Recognition Certificate. The certificate, which updates a person's birth certificate, also ensures they have the correct gender marker on their death certificate. Ghey, who was only 16, would not have met the requirements set out by the UK government.

That Ghey is likely to be misgendered on her death certificate has sparked fury among LGBTQ activists, with several telling Insider that it is an indignity for her, and a reflection of draconian laws. "She's not even going to be afforded basic dignity in her death," said Katy Montgomerie, a feminist and trans activist, during a call with Insider. "Every trans child who dies is forced to go through this, which is pointlessly cruel," she added.

It is so unspeakably cruel that the state will list Brianna Ghey as a boy on her death certificate.

A Gender Recognition Certificate is not a passport to spaces - you don't need one for that. What it allows for is basic dignity on documents like marriage or death certificates. https://t.co/SqWzPddBdr
— Tom Harwood (@tomhfh) February 13, 2023

A petition calling on the UK government to postumously issue a Gender Recognition Certificate was rejected.

Gov response to calls for posthumous recognition of Brianna Ghey’s gender, they reject it and stand by their decision the likes of Brianna ought to be buried “as a man” to keep “checks and balances” pic.twitter.com/5099reJIy0
— Rose Schmits, Trans Kiln Witch™ (@RoseSchmits) March 16, 2023

On Thursday 20th July one of two teenagers accused of murdering her pleaded not guilty. The other did not enter a plea. Both were convicted in December 2023, and in February 2024 Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both 16, were named as Brianna's killers. Jenkinson was sentenced to life with a minimum of 22 years and Ratcliffe to life with a minimum of 20 years.

The judge noted that both took part in a “brutal, planned murder” that was “sadistic in nature” and motivated by “hostility towards Brianna because of her transgender identity.”

Brianna Ghey

Trigger warning