What happened after Brianna Ghey's body was found?

Two teenagers are on trial at Manchester Crown Court, where they are charged with the murder of the Birchwood teenager.

Brianna was found dead with multiple stab wounds in Culcheth Linear Park on Saturday, February 11.

During the second day of the trial, the court heard the sequence of events which took place after Brianna's body was discovered.

Brianna's body was found in Culcheth Linear Park in February (Image: Newsquest)

The defendants cannot be named for legal reasons due to their age, but both are now 16 years old; a girl from Warrington, and a boy from Leigh.

The female defendant is referred to as Girl X, and the male defendant is referred to as Boy Y.

CCTV footage and doorbell-cam footage from the area shows the defendants leaving the area together, before splitting up.

Girl X arrived home around 3.20pm, while Boy Y made his way to a bus stop near to Culcheth Library - the court heard how he wiped his hands, which were 'visibly red,' at the time.

He arrived at his home in Leigh at around 4.04pm.

Text messages were exchanged between the defendants, mostly discussing the news coverage of Brianna's death.

The prosecution said that the defendants no doubt were feigning ignorance of the incident in the knowledge that their phones may be taken as evidence.

Following the announcement that Brianna's body had been discovered, Girl X messaged Boy Y, writing: "My brother just told me not to [go to] linear park coz a woman got stabbed."

Boy Y replied: "Jesus really."

X responded and explained that police officers were in the park due to a woman's body being discovered, and Y replied: "Holy crap."

The court heard how Boy Y searched online for ways to combat anxiety throughout these conversations.

Brianna was 16 years old when she was killed (Image: Supplied)

Girl X shared a news bulletin with friends, saying: "Someone died literally right next to my house."

At 7.49pm she messaged Boy Y and asked: "When do you think they'll find out a name?"

Conversations between the defendants continued throughout the evening.

An exchange from after 11pm includes a question from Girl X, who asked Boy Y: "Do you have anxiety about getting caught?"

The boy replied: "Probably."

Girl X replied: "You're not going to get caught, don't worry. Police are sh**e here."

The court heard that the following day, February 12, Girl X spoke to her friend (known as Child O for legal reasons) about how the incident had made it to national news.

Girl X then deleted conversations that she had had with Brianna on Snapchat (a messaging app) and then sent the following message to Brianna's account: "Girl, is everything okay?

"And some teenage girl got killed in linear park its on news everywhere.

"And why did you ditch us for some random man from Manchester. Like wtf. That is so f***** up."

The prosecution says that this was Girl X's attempt to create a false defence; it was also the story that the girl told her mother, and later the police.

Girl X later repeated this when someone asked whether the person who was killed was Brianna, as X had been seen in the park with Brianna; she wrote: "No I was out with my friends [Boy Y] and Brianna, and Brianna was with us for like 15 minutes then ditched us to meet some lad - it wouldn’t have been her, she said she was going Manchester."

The female defendant then passed on the news to her friend, Child O - when O was clearly upset, Girl X said: "It's going to be okay… I’m here for you baby xx"

Girl X told her parents the same story, and X's mother then rang the police and conveyed what X had told her to the call handler.

The female defendant later messaged the male defendant, writing: "Make sure story adds up say to police everything we met Brianna at half-1, walked to linear, and sat and chilled on the bench… then Brianna looked at her phone and said she was gonna meet some lad and walked off."

At 6.25pm on Sunday, February 12, Girl X posted a photograph of Brianna on Snapchat, writing: "Brianna was one of the best people I have ever met and such an amazing friend it's so f****** sickening what got done to her."

The court heard that Brianna was stabbed 28 times on the day of her death (Image: Esther Ghey)

Meanwhile, the court heard that Boy Y was searching online for Data Protection Act offences and penalties for supplying or withholding information - he looked up information about measures to support people giving evidence and bail, the prosecution said.

At 7.30pm that evening, police attended Girl X's home and arrested her on suspicion of murder; after she was cautioned, she was recorded as saying: "Me being a suspect, is it [because] I'm the last person to [have] seen her?"

That evening, officers also attended Boy Y's home, and arrested him on suspicion of murder, too - Boy Y said at the time: "I can explain."

Cheshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service remind everyone that criminal proceedings against both defendants are active, and that they have the right to a fair trial.

It is extremely important that there should be no commenting or sharing of information or speculation which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.

Due to their age, reporting restrictions are in place for both defendants, entitling them to anonymity, as well as other children involved in the evidence.