11 March 2024 , 00:01
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Sick trolls sent hateful messages to the mother of Brianna Ghey, she has revealed, including one who taunted her during the trial calling her a "failure" of a parent.
Esther Ghey spoke of the disgusting abuse she was sent on social media after 16-year-old Brianna was murdered, many of whom deliberately misgendered the trans teenager and taunted Esther in her grief.
The mum, 37, fought back tears as she spoke of an emotional meeting with the family of Scarlett Jenkinson, one of the two 16-year-olds now serving a life sentence for stabbing Brianna to death in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire, in February last year. The pair were both found guilty of her murder in December, and sentenced to a combined 42 years last month.
Both were 15 when they attacked Brianna in a "frenzied and ferocious" assault with a hunting knife. The trial at Manchester crown court heard disturbing details on how Jenkinson harboured a macabre fixation with serial killers.
Inspirational Esther meanwhile has been campaigning for tougher laws surrounding young people's use of smartphones and social media. In an interview released on Monday, she spoke of meeting Jenkinson's mother and uncle which was "important to understand how they were as a family".
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Heartless trolls wrote vile messages about Brianna and called mum Esther a 'failure' (BBC)During the interview, the mum touched upon the hateful abuse aimed at Brianna throughout the press coverage of the case, including trolling she was sent herself. "There’s been a lot of trolling on some of the articles I’ve read - trolling that’s actually aimed at Brianna, which I’m just completely surprised at," she said.
"It was near the beginning. I can’t actually remember exactly what it was. There’s been so much." One example she gave was so hurtful, she reported it to her police family liaison officer.
"I think the Online Safety Bill became the Online Safety Act on October 26, in late November, after the trial had started," she said. "The trial on November 27. I received a message on Facebook. Now, on Facebook I’ve got lots of filters so that people can’t send horrible things.
"Every now and again some slip through. One of them was ‘your son died because of you, you are a failure’. And because the trial was in place and I was seeing my Liaison Officer every day, I reported it. Normally, I would just delete it and block the person. But I thought I’m going to report it this time.
"She went away to take it to whoever and they went to request this person’s information. Due to privacy laws, they could not get the information of this person, and this is when the Online Safety Act was in place. I know in the Online Safety Act there’s an aspect of privacy, but then trolling and harassment are illegal as well."
Brianna, left, was stabbed multiple times by Jenkinson and RatcliffeSadly, due to privacy laws, Cheshire Police were unable to find out who the sender was. "That’s why it would be great to sit down with Michelle Donelan and go through these kinds of things because I don’t know how it’s going to protect children and I think a more drastic action needs to happen," Esther added.
Last week, Esther met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan, to discuss her campaigns. It followed a meeting with Keir Starmer last month at Westminster. Esther has proposed new laws which would see under-16s barred from social media apps on special smartphones.
The mum also has announced plans to set up a CIC (Community Interest Company) to continue her campaigns around mindfulness and mobile phone usage. She said: “I’ve been overwhelmed by the support the Peace in Mind campaign has received. So to continue this legacy for Brianna, I wanted to create a Community Interest Company to continue its good work. The new company is called Peace and Mind UK.
“Our mission is to create a safer, more empathetic and resilient society. Our two focuses remain around mindfulness in schools, where we will continue to work with Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) to train more teachers across the country, and to continue our campaign for better safeguarding around social media and mobile phones. We have already been invited back to Westminster for a follow up meeting with Michelle Donelan MP around the Online Safety Bill.”
Jenkinson, from Culcheth, and Ratcliffe, from Leigh, Greater Manchester, were found guilty of Brianna's murder by a jury last December. In February the pair, now 16, were sentenced to life, with Jenkinson told she would serve at least 22 years and Ratcliffe a minimum of 20. Last week it was revealed Ratcliffe has asked for permission to appeal his sentence.
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For those looking to support the company, visit www.peaceandminduk.org