AS THE TEENAGE MURDERERS OF BRIANNA GHEY BEGIN LIFE SENTENCES, MANY BELIEVE THEY WOULD HAVE COMMITTED MORE CRIMES IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN CAUGHT
On 2 February 2024, the two 16 year olds convicted of the senseless murder of Brianna Ghey were named and pictured. It was an unusual move, as the identities of minors convicted of crimes are usually protected until 18. But after the media applied for an exemption to the rule in the interests of open justice and the public’s right to know, it was granted by the judge.
It was hard not to be affected by the youthful images of Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, who stabbed 16-year-old Brianna 28 times in a Warrington park on 11 February 2023. The horror of two then-15 year olds concocting a plot to kill was compounded by the court hearing how they’d postponed the date to commit their evil act as Ratcliffe could not “carry out the killing on a school night”.
Sentencing the pair at Manchester Crown Court, Justice Amanda Yip said Ratcliffe would serve a minimum prison term of 20 years and Jenkinson 22 years – the longer sentence an acknowledgment that she was the driving force behind the plan. Justice Yip said, “You, Scarlett, introduced the idea of killing people. At first, this was fantasy, but it developed into something real. By January 2023, you had a real desire to kill someone, which you shared with Eddie, asking him to help.” Now 16, both will be held in juvenile facilities, before being transferred to adult prisons when they turn 18. But doubts have already been cast on their future eligibility for parole, with Justice Yip stating, “You will only be released if, in the future, it is decided you no longer present a danger,” adding, “You both took part in a brutal and planned murder, which was sadistic in nature.” And Brianna’s mother Esther Ghey said, “I don’t believe that someone who is so disturbed and obsessed with murder and torture would ever be able to be rehabilitated.”
The motiveless crime continued to shock the nation, and many believed the pair would have gone on to murder again if they had not been caught.
PLAN TO KILL
At their sentencing, details were released for the first time about the pair, who shared a joint fascination with death. It was revealed they met at Culcheth High School in Warrington when they were 11 years old. Jenkinson’s parents were both teachers, while Ratcliffe’s father managed a truck company and his mother worked as a ski instruc
