BRIANNA Ghey suffered unsurvivable injuries when she was stabbed 28 times during a “sustained and violent assault”, a court heard.

Moreover, the knife used was “consistent” with the 12cm hunting knife found, with her blood still on it, in the bedroom of boy Y, one of the two teenagers accused of her murder, Manchester Crown Court was told.

Boy Y and girl X, from Leigh and Warrington respectively, who cannot be named because of their ages, are both accused of the murder of Brianna in Culcheth Linear Park.

The 16-year-old transgender schoolgirl, from Birchwood, was found fatally injured on the afternoon of February 11.

Both defendants, aged 15 at the time, now both 16, deny murder and are blaming each other for Brianna’s death.

The trial, now in its second week, has previously been told X and Y had a ‘fixation with torture, violence and death’, and drew up a “kill list” of child victims.

An alleged “murder plan” to kill Brianna was found in the bedroom of X, who had an interest in serial killers and described herself as a “Satanist”, the trial has heard.

On Tuesday, Home Office consultant pathologist Dr Alison Armour told the jury of the results of the post-mortem examination she carried out on Brianna’s body at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital the day after her death.

It took about two hours to detail the injuries using computer generated images, detailing the location of wounds on Brianna’s body.

Dr Armour said that of the 28 stab wounds, 14 were to the head and neck, while 14 were to the chest, back and sides.

She concluded the injuries were consistent with a “sustained and violent assault” with a bladed weapon.

Defence injuries to her right arm and right thumb included one wound entering the bicep and exiting the outside of the arm below the shoulder.

Five “significant” injuries were also detailed, which resulted in wounds and damage to the left and right lung, both of which were punctured and collapsed, as well as the aorta and oesophagus.

One wound had also entered the front of the heart and exited the back.

Another significant injury was to the left side of her head, cutting the ear lobe and going in behind the angle of the jaw, causing damage to spinal vertebrae in the neck and damaging the throat.

To the right-hand side of the neck there was a series of six stab wounds, one which completely severed the jugular vein and carotid artery.

This injury alone would have been sufficient to cause death, Dr Armour said, from a “catastrophic haemorrhage”.

Dr Armour also found damage from the weapon to Brianna’s ribs, vertebrae and breast bone, implying the stab wounds were inflicted with “considerable” force.

Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, asked the pathologist about images she had seen of the hunting knife found in Y’s bedroom, which has a single sharp edge blade, 12cm in length.

Ms Heer asked if this was a candidate for causing some or all of these wounds, to which Dr Armour replied: “Yes, it is.”

Dr Armour said she could not exclude the possibility that another knife, of a similar size, could have been used to inflict the wounds – but there was no positive evidence suggesting the use of a second knife.

She also said that from the pathology evidence, it is not possible to say in which order the wounds were inflicted, or whether Brianna was standing or sitting down when she was stabbed.

The trial continues.

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.