An inquest heard Eddie Ratcliffe was described as a “caring boy with good morals” and dreamed of becoming an Oxbridge student
The mum of a teenager who murdered teenager Brianna Ghey in a “sadistic” attack along with a former school friend said her son “seemed happy” shortly after the killing. Alice Hemmings, the mum of Eddie Ratcliffe, described her son as a “caring boy with good morals” who dreamed of becoming an Oxbridge student.
Ratcliffe, also described by his mum as a “sensitive character, quite private but a very caring child,” conspired with Scarlett Jenkinson to carry out the “exceptionally brutal” attack on 16-year-old Brianna in February 2023. After plotting the attack together over WhatsApp, where they created a “kill list” of possible targets, the pair lured Brianna to Culcheth Linear Park before she was fatally stabbed 28 times.
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When the pair were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court in February this year, presiding judge Mrs Justice Yip described the attack as a crime committed for “enjoyment” and out of a “thirst for killing.” Jenkinson was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years in prison while Ratcliffe was handed a 20 year sentence for killing Brianna.
READ MORE: Brianna Ghey inquest updates as evidence to be heard over teenager’s murderREAD MORE: Brianna Ghey’s teenage years ‘immersed in darkness’ inquest told
During an inquest into the death of Brianna, who was transgender, which started today at Cheshire Coroners’ Court and is expected to continue for three days, Ms Hemmings’ two statements to police following the arrest of her son Ratcliffe were read into the record by the area’s senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish.
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Ms Hemmings said on the day of Brianna’s murder her son told her he was going to meet a male friend in Culcheth. Ms Hemmings said her son usually met a friend to play Pokémon Go before getting food.
She said: “Eddie became friends with Scarlett in year seven. She was his first friend at Culcheth High School. She had a lot of male friends and said she got on better with boys. She invited him to go trick or treating in year seven. He would sometimes go and see her in Culcheth but would always take a friend. Once in year eight he said he was going to see her because she was depressed.
“Even though Eddie was her friend I got the feeling he wasn’t comfortable with her on their own. This is just a mother’s institution. She told him she had an eating condition and bipolar. Last year I asked if he saw Scarlett anymore and he said she was grounded by her adopted parents for getting expelled.”
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On February 11, 2022 – the day of the murder – Ms Hemmings called her son to say she was in the area to pick him up. She said Ratcliffe rarely answered the phone and when he did he whistled instead of saying hello. Her statement to the court said her son sounded “happy” and he wanted to stay out a bit longer. When Ms Hemmings spoke to her son he and Jenkinson had already murdered Brianna.
She said: “He answered immediately and spoke…he spoke quite fast paced, was happy to get the bus home and wanted to stay out for a bit longer. I could hear people in the background but felt uneasy. I just felt like I needed all my family at home with me, I didn’t feel relaxed that day and there was too much to do.
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“I texted to see if he was home when I finished work and he said yes. He came down differently pleased to see me and allowed me to hug him. He wanted to stay downstairs and be in the family environment.”
She added: “We heard about the incident in Culcheth and asked if they knew this female and they said no. I asked Eddie if he had been to the park and he said no. During the evening Eddie was chatting and appeared normal. We were cooking when police officers stormed into our house and arrested Eddie.”
The inquest heard that when the two teenagers, who can only be named following a successful appeal from the press, were arrested they both spoke to officers. Jenkinson questioned her arresting officer: “How come I am a suspect, is it because I was the last one to see her alive?” while Ratcliffe, whose dad Kyle was convicted of sex offences shortly after his son was jailed, said “I can explain”.
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The inquest opened with a statement from Brianna’s mum Esther Ghey. Ms Ghey told the court that while her daughter’s early years were marked by her “mischievous, funny and outgoing” nature, her teenage years were “immersed in darkness”.
Ms Ghey said: “When police came to the house I just knew something like this was going to happen because it was such a dark time for everyone. When she was little she was such a ball of joy but in her teenage years she was immersed in darkness. It feels like I was grieving two different people.”
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Brianna’s mum told the inquest that her daughter, who wanted to become a YouTuber and had millions of views on social media platforms like TikTok, was referred to the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) when she was younger and had also been hospitalised due to her eating disorder.
She added: “It was in 2020 that she started dressing as a female and went by the name Brianna. She first came out to her sister and they told each other everything. Brianna always looked up to her sister and I can’t remember a big announcement when she came out to the rest of the family, although I had my worries but I would support her whatever she did.
READ MORE: Brianna Ghey’s teenage years ‘immersed in darkness’ inquest told
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“At one point she wanted to call herself Britney, but we persuaded her otherwise and determined Brianna was good.” The court also heard brief evidence from Brianna’s dad Peter Spooner.
During questioning from Ms Devonish, he broke down as he lifted the lid on their troubled relationship after he had struggled to “know how to deal” with the revelation that she was transgender. Choking back tears during the questioning from Ms Devonish, he said: “Sorry it’s just very hard.”
The inquest also heard from Amelia Loureiro, who said she first met Brianna on TikTok around three years before she died. She told the court: “We just seemed to click as we got to know more about each other. She was my best friend.”
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She said Jenkinson, who Brianna had mentioned on a number of occasions to her, was a “bad influence” and recalled two previous occasions when she had given her drugs. She told the court that after the second incident – where Jenkinson gave Brianna a number of pills and claimed they were MDMA – “we had a brief conversation about if Scarlett was trying to poison her as I didn’t trust her.”
She said on the day of Brianna’s murder, they spoke on FaceTime for nearly an hour. Brianna told her that she was going to meet Jenkinson in the park to take cocaine, but was nervous about having to take the bus. Amelia’s statement recalled that she was tired after having stayed up for most of the previous night so told Brianna her phone battery was low so she could end the call.
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The court heard at 12.52pm on the same day Brianna sent her a message “girl you are so annoying, call me xx”. This was followed by a voice note where Brianna said “girl why you so mean to me…I’m actually bare terrified girl like someone is going to rape me or something”.
The court heard Amelia messaged Brianna back when she woke up later that day. Amelia said Brianna didn’t respond and she saw her Snapchat location was in the middle of a field and she hadn’t been active for three to four hours.
Amelia then messaged “girl are you okay” and followed it with “girl you better not be dead, I am praying for you”. She later saw on the news that a 16-year-old girl named Brianna Ghey had been stabbed to death in the park.
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Brianna’s body was found by a dog-walking couple shortly after 3pm. Detective Inspector Nigel Parr, who led the investigation, told the inquest the couple recalled seeing two people, believed to be the suspects, running away across a path and across a farmer’s field before they saw the body.
PC Andrew Chadwick, who was the first officer on the scene told the court that when he found Brianna he observed “heavily bloodstained clothing” and proceeded to check for a pulse. He exposed Brianna’s body and “saw numerous stab wounds to her chest and side areas”. He said he continued to perform CPR before assisting paramedics.
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Experienced paramedic Deborah Simpson’s statement said: “I could not prepare for what I was about to witness.” She added: “There were no signs of life…I have never experienced such traumatic injuries, this is the worst I have ever experienced.” The inquest, which will hear today from safeguarding leads at both Culcheth and Birchwood high schools, continues.
