‘I saw her stabbing Brianna’, Leigh boy tells court

Boy Y and girl X, who cannot be named because of their ages, are both accused of the murder of Brianna, 16, who was found stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, on the afternoon of February 11.

Both defendants, aged 15 at the time, now both 16, deny murder and are blaming each other as being responsible for Brianna’s death, Manchester Crown Court has heard.

At the start of the second week of the trial, jurors were shown the video recorded police interviews with the suspects after their arrests, the day after Brianna’s death.

Boy Y, who comes from Leigh said girl X had invited Brianna, who he had never met before, to meet up and go to the park, and suggested an area near a bench.

He said: “I turned away to go to the toilet behind a tree. When I turned back around I saw X stabbing Brianna. Brianna was on the floor.”

Boy Y told detectives he saw Brianna curled up on the floor and stood over her was X, who had a knife.

He continued: “I went to check if Brianna was alive. I put my hands on her. I got blood all on my hands.”

A detective asked him: “Did you see where the blood was coming from?”

“Everywhere,” Y replied.

He said girl X, who comes from Warrington, stopped stabbing Brianna because nearby she saw another member of the public in the park and she ran away. He followed, with them both then walking away from the park.

Box Y continued: “I asked her why she did it. She said Brianna tried to break her and her boyfriend up.”

He said X appeared “calm”, but he was “shocked and panicked”.

And he told police he did not see the knife and did not know what X did with it afterwards.

But jurors have been told it is now accepted Brianna was killed with a hunting knife belonging to Y, which was found in his bedroom at his home address with Brianna’s blood still on the weapon.

And neither defendant disputes that in the days and weeks before Brianna’s death, they had discussed and made plans to kill her, prosecutors told the court.

The same day Y was interviewed, X was also questioned by detectives.

In her police interview she claimed they were with Brianna at the park and she was “very happy” and “really smiley”, but then abruptly “stormed off” to meet a boy, 17, from Manchester who was picking her up in his car.

Girl X was told by police her phone and messages would be analysed by them, but she denied there was anything on the device to do with Brianna’s death.

She then made “no comment” to further questions, the court heard.

The trial has been told:

– X and Y had a fixation with torture, violence and death;

– The pair had a “kill list” of other child victims;

– A “murder plan” to kill Brianna was found in X’s bedroom;

– She posted a tribute to her alleged victim on social media after the killing;

and

– X had an interest in serial killers.

Proceeding