Brianna Ghey's headteacher says students 'angry' over 'iconic' teenager's murder

21 December 2023 , 10:02

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Brianna Ghey's headteacher says students 'angry' over 'iconic' teenager's murder

The headteacher of slain transgender teen Brianna Ghey has issued a touching tribute to the "iconic", "creative", and "quick-witted" young woman who was butchered by two twisted teen killers.

Emma Mills, who's in charge of Birchwood Community High School in Warrington, Cheshire, gave two interviews today after the two teens - identified only by the code names Girl X and Boy Y - were yesterday found guilty of luring her to a park and stabbing her 28 times in a gratuitous attack.

Jurors were told Brianna had been the victim of a “sustained and violent” assault. She was knifed repeatedly in the head, neck, back and chest and died at the scene after suffering “catastrophic blood loss”. Phone messages sent between the killers revealed their blood lust. Girl X, who was attracted to and obsessed with Brianna, wrote: “‘I want to stab her at least once even if she's dead jus coz it's fun lol.”

Slain teen Brianna was described as "iconic" by her headteaher (PA)

Brianna's death has devastated the local community she was a part of, with a large crowd gathered outside Manchester Crown Court to hear the guilty verdict. Her parents broke down in tears as they said they would be pushing their support into an initiative that urges youngsters to be compassionate about each others' differences. Emma said that the school is also supporting the Peace in Mind campaign, as she revealed that staff and pupils at her school are still being offered counselling services 10 months after the attack.

Brianna's headteacher sharied her memories of the "creative" girl who was "quick witted" with a "real flare for fashion". Emma said: "She definitely had a lot of personality, Brianna was somebody who had so much potential and she was very creative, she had a real flare for fashion, she was very funny, very quick witted.

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"She was iconic really, around school just in terms of her sense of style, always wanting to stand out and taking so much time and attention that her nails matched her phone case. Customising her school uniform… she’s left a huge hole in our school."

Emma Mills appearing on BBC Breakfast (BBC)

Speaking to Good Morning Britain, she recalled the horrific moment she received a call from police telling her there'd been a murder at the school she was repsonsible for.

She explained: "It’s certainly something that isn’t covered in any sort of training and I dont’ think you could ever prepare for it anyway, the last ten months have been absolutely horrific there’s no other way of describing it. I can’t even really remember last February, I don’t think my mind allows me to. It has been incredibly challenging for everybody involved."

Emma revealed the school has planted a tree for Brianna, and stressed the importance of remembering her as a person rather than the awful crimes done against her.

Brianna's parents break down outside Manchester Crown Court (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

In a separate interview with BBC Breakfast, Ms Mills said: "She (Brianna) was such a huge character in school. Everyone knew who she was and losing her has hit everybody so hard. The way that we lost her is has just made it so much more difficult to comprehend. She was a real one-off — you couldn't fail to notice her. One thing was her real sense of style. She was iconic, really — her creativity, she did things her way. It made her very strong, a true individual, attributes that would have served her well if she had been given that chance to grow older."

She said that 10 months on, counselling is still being made available to staff and pupils who may have been left traumatised by the violent atrocity.

The school is banging the drum for Peace in Mind, a campaign set up by Brianna's mother. The organisation hopes to raise money to send teachers on mindfulness courses so they can weave "empathy, compassion and resilience" into the classroom. Ms Mills added: "The biggest thing we've done is support each other."

Brianna and the family pooch (MEN Media)

The school has thrown itself behind the Peace In Mind campaign started by Brianna's mother Esther and local newspaper the Warrington Guardian. It aims to raise enough money to send teachers on Mindfulness in Schools Project training courses so they can support pupils' mental health, with a mission of weaving 'empathy, compassion, and resilience' into society.

An additional hearing will be underway today as the judge decides whether to allow the media to report on the names of the killers, who up until now have been protected due to their ages. Emma said: "Whatever decision the judge makes will be the right one."

Ryan Fahey