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.
In Ratcliffe’s case, another consultant forensic psychiatrist found he has a mild form of autism and selective mutism
Never heard it put quite like that.
Selective Mutism is an diagnosable anxiety disorder: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_mutism
I once knew a guy who had it. We were in the school orchestra together. The only verbal communication he did was whispering to his mother. He was around 12-14 at the time.
He got over it, though. He had no (noticeable) problems when we were hanging out with our mutual friends. He was around 18 at the time.
Presumably some sort of therapy happened in between.
