Transgender girl, 16, stabbed to death in ‘targeted attack’ in Cheshire park

Detectives were tonight hunting for the killer of a 16-year-old transgender girl who was stabbed to death in a village park.

Brianna Ghey was the victim of a ‘targeted attack’ in the beauty spot on the site of an old railway cutting.

Police and paramedics were called to Linear Park in Culcheth, an affluent village near Warrington, Cheshire, on Saturday afternoon following the discovery of the teenager’s body on a path. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The teenager was born a male but is believed to have been living as a female for a number of months. 

The girl was found with serious injuries and was pronounced dead following a police report at 3.13pm at Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire

Emma Fortune said Brianna and her mother had been customers at the opticians where she works since she joined the business seven years ago.

She said Brianna was born Brett and was transitioning.

Miss Fortune said: ‘I last saw them last year. Brianna looked gorgeous with her hair down and her make up.

‘Her little face lit up when I told her how beautiful she looked. When I found out she’d been killed it as awful. I was so upset. Her mum will be devastated.’

She added that the teenager was a ‘very quiet’ person, probably ‘because of what she was going through’, but had never mentioned being bullied.

A playlist apparently posted to YouTube by the teenager was entitled ‘Songs that heal my traumas’.

Last night a spokesman for Cheshire Constabulary said there was no evidence that the murder was a hate crime, but added that detectives were keeping an ‘open mind’ about whether Brianna’s status as a transgender teenager was relevant to their inquiries.

Speaking at the cordon, Detective Chief Supt Mike Evans described the murder as a ‘targeted attack’ on Brianna during a ‘busy day’ at the park.

He said his officers ‘would continue to follow other lines of inquiry that appear’, adding that it was unclear whether the teenager knew her attacker. Detectives have not recovered a murder weapon.

Forensic examiners are continuing to explore the scene and the girl’s relatives have were told yesterday

A crime scene is in place as detectives work to establish the circumstances surrounding her death

Police officers are pictured at the scene in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire on Saturday after Brianna Ghey was found stabbed to death in the park

In an earlier statement released through Cheshire Constabulary, DCS Evans said officers were keen to speak to a couple wearing long clothing seen very close to the location of the ‘truly awful attack’.

DCS Evans said the white man and woman were ‘in their late teens/early twenties, both with dark curly hair’.

He added: ‘The man was wearing a longish dark hooded coat and the woman had a distinctive red or purple black checked blanket-style coat and a long flowing skirt, dress or trousers.

‘We are also keen to speak to anyone who was in the park from around 1.30pm until 4.00pm (on Saturday) or anyone who may have seen Brianna in the hours leading up to her death.

‘We would ask people and businesses within the local community to check any CCTV or dashcam footage for anything that may aid our investigation.’

During initial searches of the village on Saturday, officers asked villagers if they had seen a man wearing a green coat.

One woman, who didn’t wish to be named, said she’d heard that officers were ‘looking for a man’ before news of the death had emerged.

She said: ‘People were saying that police were searching for a man.

‘Apparently, officers were asking people in the park yesterday if they’d seen a man in a green jacket.

‘They were also telling them to get out of the park. I heard later that a girl had been stabbed.’

Detective Chief Supt Mike Evans said: ‘This is a truly awful attack on a 16-year-old girl, who has sadly lost her very short life. We are appealing for any information that will help us find who has done this to Brianna’

Officers ‘would continue to follow other lines of inquiry that appear’. Police said it was unclear whether the teenager knew her attacker. Detectives have not recovered a murder weapon

Villagers said the force flooded the area with patrol cars following the discovery of Brianna’s body, with a police helicopter also deployed. A number of umber of police vehicles remained at the park yesterday as forensic work continued

Another villager said: ‘The park is very popular and is used by dog-walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

‘It’s an old railway track with one main path that branches off further down.

‘Kids sometime go down of a night with bottles of alcohol. But this is a quiet area normally, so it’s a bit of a shock this has happened.’

When asked about the man in a green jacket, DCS Evans said the force remained interested in speaking to anyone who may have been in the area at the time and may have information to assist their investigation.

Brianna is believed to have lived with her mother, a food technologist, in nearby Birchwood. There was no answer at the address last night.

A Home Office post-mortem examination was taking place yesterday to confirm a cause of death, but police said Brianna had suffered multiple stab wounds.

Speaking on Saturday evening, before the death was confirmed as a murder, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Waller said that there was ‘not believed to be a wider threat to anyone else’.

The Linear Park was created from the disused cutting that once carried the Lowton – Manchester branch line of the local railway network.

There are several side-paths feeding off to other parts of the village while a wide, flat area of what was once the station yard is now a picnic area and a popular meeting place for dog walkers.

Prior to yesterday’s police update, a social media hoaxer claimed on TikTok that a prisoner from nearby HMP Risley had escaped and was suspected of murdering the teenager before going on the run.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that no inmates had absconded from the Category C jail.

Anybody with information should contact Cheshire Police by calling 101. Information can also be reported anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800555111.