Brianna Ghey’s killers have been given life sentences for her “brutal, planned and sadistic” murder.
Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe murdered the 16-year-old in a park in Cheshire in February 2023.
Mrs Justice Yip said Jenkinson was motivated by a “deep desire to kill” while Ratcliffe’s motivation was in part hostility to Brianna’s transgender identity.
She was given 22 years, while Ratcliffe was detained for 20 years.
Both teenagers, who were 15 at the time of the murder and are now 16, could be seen staring ahead towards the judge and showed no visible reaction as they were sentenced.
They’re never free. They can be sent back to jail for the rest of their life for any minor crime or suspicion.
There is a different sentence of life imprisonment which is where someone is in prison for life. This is often what people expect when they hear life sentence.
It is clear from the conversations these two murders had, they were very motivated to kill someone. If they got away with this murder they would likely do it again. So a 20 year sentence is needed. Because they are young they may change and come to genuinely regret these crimes, they also may not change. This type of sentence gives some flexibility - they can be let of jail in 20 years or kept in even longer.
I would expect they stay in prison for a longer time. A patrol board is going to have a hard time trusting them.