The mother of the teenage boy who murdered Brianna Ghey has said he was a “very caring” individual who was a “good child with good morals, from a good family”.
Eddie Ratcliffe and his friend Scarlett Jenkinson were both 15 when they lured Brianna to a park near Warrington, Cheshire and stabbed her 28 times on 11 February 2023.
On the opening day of the inquest into the 16-year-old’s death, two statements from Alice Hemmings, Ratcliffe’s mother, were read out to Cheshire Coroners Court.
In a statement dated 3 March 2023, Ms Hemmings said of the killer: “Eddie clearly knows right and wrong, good and bad, and isn’t a risk taker.
“He is cautious. He has never been diagnosed but has a lot of autistic traits. He is quite awkward but is polite.”
She said he liked meeting up with friends but mostly enjoyed playing the mobile phone game Pokemon Go.
She says Ratcliffe became friends with co-murderer Jenkinson when the pair were in Year 7.
“She had a lot of male friends and said she got on better with boys.”
On the evening of the murder, Ms Hemmings said her son seemed happy and spent time with the family “chatting and appeared normal”.
“I would like to reiterate that Eddie is a good child with good morals and a loving and caring family behind him.
“If Eddie is worried about anything he just withdraws from the situation. He is not one to ask for help and finds it difficult to show his emotions.”
Brianna, who was transgender, had thousands of followers on her TikTok profile.
The inquest heard from two of her close friends and her mother who described Brianna’s history of mental health issues in a statement read by the coroner.
Esther Ghey said her daughter was hospitalised because of dramatic weight loss.
Staff at the eating disorder clinic brought to her attention that Brianna had been self-harming, with marks on her arms and legs.
“At one point she carved a row of love heart shapes on her arm,” Ms Ghey’s statement read.
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The coroner heard Brianna had repeatedly asked her mother for hormone medication and wanted to pursue the private route because of the four-year waiting list on the NHS.
“I held out as long as possible,” Ms Ghey said.
“I was worried about the long-term consequences of taking puberty blockers.
“Brianna would say ‘I will kill myself if I don’t get medication’.”
Ms Ghey referenced the online material her daughter started consuming during the COVID lockdown.
She believes this was exacerbating her anxieties: “I feel the online world she was living in was very toxic.
“I can’t believe what a change Brianna went through – when she was little Brianna was an energetic ball of joy, but in her later years she was immersed in darkness. It feels like I’m grieving two different people.”
Jenkinson and Ratcliffe are serving life orders for Brianna’s murder.