Schoolgirl Brianna Ghey was murdered because she was ‘vulnerable’ and ‘accessible’ and not because she was transgender, detectives believe after they drew up ‘kill-list’ of five potential victims

• Follow every detail of the case on The Mail’s acclaimed podcast The Trial 

Brianna Ghey was not murdered because she was transgender, detectives told the Mail.

But she was ‘dehumanised’ by her killers, who knew she was struggling mentally, and targeted her because her transgender status made her vulnerable.

Detective Superintendent Mike Evans, head of crime at Cheshire police, said he believed Girl X and Boy Y were determined to kill someone and, if they hadn’t murdered Brianna, would have targeted someone else on their so-called ‘kill list.’

The trial was told that four boys, who the defendants had petty disagreements with, were named on a list of children they ‘wanted rid of’ in January this year.

Girl X set up a fake Instagram account to target one of them, a teenager known as Boy E, but when he failed to take the bait she turned her attention to Brianna instead.

Brianna Ghey was not murdered because she was transgender , detectives told the Mail

Detective Superintendent Mike Evans, head of crime at Cheshire police, said he believed Girl X and Boy Y were determined to kill someone and, if they hadn’t murdered Brianna, would have targeted someone else on their so-called ‘kill list’

Esther Ghey, mother of murdered teenager Brianna 

‘If it was not Brianna, it would have been one of the other four children on the list,’ Mr Evans said. 

Follow every detail of the case on The Mail’s acclaimed podcast The Trial 

The Trial…takes listeners behind the headlines and into the courtrooms of some of the biggest trials in the world.

The first series ‘The Trial of Lucy Letby’ was a global hit, with more than 13 million downloads, while season two focused on the murder of Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old teacher from Ireland.

Its third season follows the tragic case of Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old transgender girl killed in Warrington, England.

Follow the evidence as the jury hears it, in twice-weekly reports from The Daily Mail’s Northern Correspondent Liz Hull and broadcast journalist Caroline Cheetham.

‘It is just Brianna was the one who was accessible at that time and the focus of those desires.

‘In a strange way Girl X was obsessed with Brianna, almost attracted and intrigued by her. 

‘With Boy Y, there is some really horrific and dehumanising transphobic comments.

‘Brianna was not killed because she was transgender, but the fact that she was transgender made her a bit more vulnerable and accessible. 

‘Whoever they had attacked that day they would have shown that level of contempt and disrespect for, there is nothing to suggest it was a worse attack because Brianna was transgender.’

In one of the messages, Girl X told Boy Y: ‘She has a dick lol.’ 

He responded: ‘Is it a femboy or a tranny?.’ 

He also repeatedly referred to Brianna as ‘it’ instead of using her correct pronoun.

Initially, immediately after Brianna’s murder, in February, police said her murder was not ‘hate’ related.

But a few days into the inquiry they admitted her transgender status may have been a factor.

Mr Evans said it would be up to the judge, Mrs Justice Yip, to determine whether the murder was aggravated by Brianna being transgender or there was a hate element to the crime when she sentences Girl X and Boy Y in the New Year.

‘Whether the murder was aggravated by hostility toward someone who is trans gender is a matter for the court,’ Mr Evans said.

‘We prosecuted it for what it was – a murder. 

‘Those messages were sent and that language was used but it is a matter for the court to decide whether the offence was aggravated.’

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