The family of the girl who brutally killed transgender teenager Brianna Ghey said they are "truly sorry", as they described the past year as "beyond our worst nightmares".
In a statement following the sentencing of Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe for murder, the family gave their support to the judge's decision to lift a legal order which banned the two killers from being names.
Manchester Crown Court heard yesterday heard Mrs Justice Yip outline how Jenkinson was motivated by a "deep desire to kill", while her accomplice was in part motivated by Brianna's transgender identity.
Just 15-years-old at the time of the killing, the pair stabbed victim 28 times in a "brutal" and "very sustained and violent assault".
Scarlett Jenkinson's family last night said sorry for their daughter's crimes
PA
Reacting last night for the first time, Jenkinson’s family said: “All of our thoughts are for Brianna and her family.
“The last 12 months have been beyond our worst nightmares as we have come to realise the brutal truth of Scarlett’s actions.
“We agree with the jury’s verdict, the judge’s sentence and the decision to name the culprits.”
They also thanked Brianna’s mother Esther Ghey for her “incredible selflessness and empathy towards our family”.
MORE HORRIFIC DETAILS:
Mrs Justice Yip said the murder was 'brutal' and 'sadistic'PAAfter the jury unanimously found Jenkinson and Ratcliffe guilty in December, Esther Ghey gave a statement outside court in which she called for “empathy and compassion” for the murderers' families.
"They too have lost a child," she said, adding they “must live the rest of their lives knowing what their child has done”.
On Thursday, trial judge Mrs Justice Yip warned that anyone tempted to direct “vitriol or malice” towards the defendants’ families would be “acting against the express wishes” of the victim's relatives.
Brianna was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back after being lured to Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, on the afternoon of February 11, last year.
Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe were sentenced to life in prison
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In December, Brianna Ghey's mother, Esther, called for 'empathy and compassion' for the murderers' families
PA
Jenkinson, whose parents are teachers and lives close to the park in Culcheth, had been asked to leave her school, Culcheth High, over giving cannabis-laced gummy sweets to another pupil and joined Brianna’s school, Birchwood High, in October 2022 and quickly became “obsessed” with her.
The trial heart how Jenkinson and Ratcliffe had a fascination with violence, torture and murder and had been "excited" by the idea of carrying out the killing.
Both teenagers blamed each other during the trial but it emerged in court that both had eventually admitted to carrying out the stabbing.
Yesterday it was ordered that Jenkinson must serve a minimum of 22 years before parole and Ratcliffe 20 years.