Esther Ghey: 'Obvious there were elements of trans hate in Brianna's death'

‘He’s a hateful boy,’ Esther said of one of her daughter’s killers in a sit-down interview with ITV News

Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey, has called one of her daughter’s killers a “hateful boy,” telling ITV News it is “quite obvious” there were elements of trans hate at play in Brianna’s death.

Friends and family of Brianna’s spoke movingly at a vigil, held in her hometown of Warrington, one year on from her death on Sunday.

She was murdered in a park by two 15-year-olds – Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe – who, a judge ruled, were motivated by sadism and transphobic hate.

Now, Esther Ghey has confessed she is “glad” judge Mrs Justice Yip “picked up” on the elements of hatred in her daughter’s murder.

Brianna with her mother Esther. / Credit: Family photo

“I think it was quite obvious seeing the sequence of events and the evidence that was there was shown in court that… from Eddie’s side, there was elements of trans hate,” Esther said.

“I think he is a hateful boy, and I think that he would probably find hate for anybody, really.

“(So) I was glad that she picked up on that. And I think it increased the sentence as well.”

Esther and the Warrington Guardian newspaper are running the Peace In Mind campaign, which is raising money to send teachers on Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) training courses.

She said she believes Brianna may have had an “easier life” had she been given the help to stay mindful.

‘How are you supposed to monitor this?’ Esther spoke about the pressure on parents to follow their child’s mobile phone activity

“I do think that Brianna might have had an easier life and she might have not struggled so much with anxiety and with her mental health.

“If there was if mindfulness was in place in primary school and and she had been taught to have that mental resilience and to to develop some self-compassion.

“I just think that (life) would have been easier and that she would have been happier, she would have been able to cope better with with situations happier.

“I’d like to see mindfulness embedded into every school in England.”

Tributes left during a vigil in Golden Square, Warrington, to mark the first anniversary of the murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey. / Credit: PA

And while the online safety bill is a “step in the right direction”, Esther added that she doesn’t think “it’s necessarily going to be enough to protect young people.”

“I feel like I am passionate about it because I experienced it with Brianna,” she explained.

“Brianna was self-harming… (had) an eating disorder as well. And I found out after what happened to Brianna that she was actually on Twitter, on pages that were encouraging that.

“And I didn’t know that as a parent. I only found out after Brianna had passed away.

“It’s so difficult to track what’s happening. The kids and young people have these phones in their pockets.”

‘The simple things are the best things’: Esther remembers Brianna’s love of UK holidays

When asked whether she would want to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Esther said: “Yes, of course.”

“(I want) anyone in a leadership position in parliament to speak to a range of people to rally their support and get the knowledge of their areas to work together on this.”

“It’s important to keep her name and memory alive in a positive way. I’m trying to work hard to make sure it’s not focused on committed crime and leaving something positive on such a horrific situation.”