Brianna Ghey’s mother calls for Government to take tougher action on knife crime

The mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has called for tougher action to be taken on knife crime.

Esther Ghey’s 16-year-old transgender daughter was stabbed to death in Linear Park, Warrington, in February last year.

On Friday, Ms Ghey joined two other mothers who also lost their children to knife crime in saying they felt “let down” by the Government’s failure to act on the issue.

The three women have been individually campaigning for changes to sentencing, the introduction of lifesaving bleed kits and restrictions on mobile phones.

Ms Ghey told ITV news she hoped uniting with Kelly Brown and Leeann White would make their message “stronger”.

She said: “Something needs to be done. It needs to change urgently.

“I feel it’s our job as well… even though we’ve gone through something so tragic, we do need to do this, we do need to push this.

“I’ve still got the hope that we can make a difference. And whether it’s the Government that are making a difference or mums like us, I’ve got the hope that things will change. I’ve got to hope things will get better.

“Everything that we’re asking for, it needs to be done and we’ll stick together, and we’ll be stronger together.”

Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, who were both 15 at the time of the knife attack, were given life sentences for Brianna’s “brutal, planned and sadistic” murder.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer mentioned Ms Ghey during Wednesday’s election debate when he accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of “making an anti-trans joke in front of the mother of a murdered trans teenager”.

He was referring to an incident in February this year where Mr Sunak made a trans jibe in the Commons, while Brianna’s family were visiting Parliament.

Ms White said the Government “needs to step up and do more” and called for harsher punishments, including custodial sentences for carrying a knife.

Her 12-year-old daughter Ava was stabbed by a boy she didn’t know during a Christmas lights switch-on event in Liverpool in 2021.

A 15-year-old was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 13 years for her murder.

Ms White said: “Kids are dying on our streets on a daily basis. The Government needs to step up and do more. It needs to be more of a priority.

“There needs to be custodial sentences. That’s the only way that change is going to happen in my eyes.

“I want custodial sentences for carrying a knife. I think if you’re caught with a knife, it’s a straight 10 years.

“Every single day, you open the paper, you read the news, there’s been another fatality… so I’d like to see tougher sentences.”

Ms Brown’s son, Rhamero West, was 16-years-old when he was stabbed to death on his first day of college in Trafford, Manchester in 2021.

Three men – Ryan Cashin, 19, Marquis Richard, 17, and Giovanni Lawrence, 20 – were later jailed for his murder.

Ms Brown said: “I feel like they’re not taking it as serious as they should be.

“We’ve discussed before, they can ban these XL bullies within three months. It’s taken so long to ban these knives for killing our kids.

“I feel let down. I feel like the Government are not doing enough.”

Sir Keir pledged on Monday to make reducing knife crime a “moral mission” ahead of speaking to the families of knife crime victims alongside actor Idris Elba at a meeting in west London.