01/03/2024
Spokespeople for the Crown Prosecution Service have said that the murder of trans teenager Brianna Ghey was "one of the most disturbing cases" their lawyers had ever executed. Ghey was stabbed twenty eight times in an attack described by prosecutors as "frenzied" by a homophobic and transphobic pair of deranged heterosexual teenagers, now named on their sentencing as Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe. Mrs Justice Yip, the Presiding judge handed down sentences of twenty two years for Jenkinson and twenty years on Ratcliffe, and she warned that they may serve longer if they were judged to remain a risk to the public. The pair had also planned the murders of other young people, including a boy that they had decided was a "nonce", a slur that is often used against outsiders and people whose sexuality is questioned by heterosexuals. It was noted that several of these other teens had had lucky escapes. Justice Yip also noted that the murder of Brianna Ghey was motivated by transphobia, and although she did not elaborate on the implications of this finding, many LGBTQIA+ advocates on social media noted the impact of the British right wing newspapers and certain fringe groups of pseudo-feminist in whipping up moral panics about gender non conformist people and feeding into the conditioning of the murderous pair. Another factor was the "dark web" being the hidden underbelly of the internet that most people never see. The Guardian newspaper reports that Jenkinson had downloaded a special browser on her phone to watch “real” murders and torture on the dark web, and kept detailed notes about serial killers. The internet is reported to have allowed some positive social impacts, such as the liberation of many LGBTQIA+ people, disabled people and neurodiverse people to communicate freely and organise. However, the web is also full of hatred, conspiracy theories and far right organising and this is a real cause for concern to people who care about legality, crime and the future of democracy. Brianna Ghey's mother Esther said in a dignified statement "I have moments where I feel sorry for them, because they have also ruined their own lives, but I have to remember that they felt no empathy for Brianna when they left her bleeding to death after their premeditated and vicious attack, which was carried out not because Brianna had done anything wrong, but just because one hated trans people and the other thought it would be fun.” The BBC News Channel reported that even the family of Jenkinson acknowledged the evil of her actions, noting "Jenkinson's family also thanked Esther Ghey for her "incredible selflessness and empathy towards our family", and said they were "forever grateful" for her "overwhelming compassion". Meanwhile, the BBC's Radio 4 network has been slammed by campaigners as it misgendered Brianna, some people believe deliberately as a sop to transphobes. Pink News, the top LGBTQIA newswire, reported that broadcaster and journalist India Willoughby wrote on X, formerly Twitter asking “Why is your reporter misgendering Brianna Ghey? BBC Radio 4 is well-known to the trans community as the most transphobic part of the BBC – and this just confirms it. So disrespectful.” And experienced activist Matthew Hodson from LGBTQIA+ led health charity AIDS Map said “Not using the pronouns that Brianna Ghey used and that her mother and family use is extraordinarily, unnecessarily cruel and callous.”
