Brianna Ghey’s mother has emotional opened up about sending her daughter a text explaining how proud she was of her just hours before she was horrifically murdered

Brianna Ghey’s mother Esther has tearfully revealed that she texted her daughter to say how proud she was of her just hours before her horrific murder – but she’ll never know if Brianna read it.

Brianna, 16, was stabbed to death by two sadistic teenagers in a hate-fuelled attack two years ago. Now, her mother Esther is opening up about her daughter’s tragic death in an effort to keep her memory alive in new documentary Brianna Ghey: A Mother’s Story – airing tonight on ITV1.

In the film, Esther shares how she was thrilled when Brianna had said that she was taking the bus to meet a friend, with the teenager having become reclusive in the years during her gender transition. Brianna was meeting up with 15-year-old Scarlett Jenkinson, who lured her to Culcheth Linear Park that day before killing her with Eddie Ratcliffe.

“She sent me a picture of her feet on the bus and said that she felt really anxious,” Esther says in the documentary. “I messaged back something like, ‘That’s well good,’ because she’d never been on a bus by herself.

“I remember thinking, ‘That’s such a good step in the right direction. Maybe she’s going to be fine.’” Breaking down, Esther adds, “I was hoping that Brianna would go out and have a nice time re-entering society. I responded to say how good it was. I don’t know whether she ever saw how proud I was of her.”

Jenkinson and Ratcliffe received life terms with a minimum of 20 years for the killing of transgender student Brianna, which was motivated by Ratcliffe’s transphobia and Jenkinson’s obsession with torture and murder.

The film speaks to police officers who investigated Brianna’s case, with detective inspector Adam Waller sharing how it was the “most atrocious knife-enabled murder” that he had seen in his career.

Texts between the two killers showed how they had a shared morbid obsession with murdering Brianna, with Ratcliffe writing: “I really want one of its eyes, as they have pretty eyes.”

Esther shares in the documentary how she “couldn’t believe” that Ratcliffe – who had previously befriended Brianna – was one of the people responsible for her murder.

“I didn’t want to believe that it was Scarlett because she was a friend who Brianna obviously trusted and I trusted. I think it’s the worst possible betrayal,” she says.

Esther’s partner and Brianna’s stepdad Wes adds: “We spent a lot of time worrying about who Brianna was talking to online and the strangers that she could potentially be meeting up with. The fact that Brianna’s friend was involved, is just unbelievable and devastating.”

While Brianna’s death has left “a massive hole” in the hearts of Esther, Wes and Brianna’s older sister Alicia, the family continue to pay tribute to the late teenager by raising awareness of online safety and knife crime.

“I think we can make soceity a better place if we listen to how Brianna’s life was and what we can do better and I think she can really be someone who people can learn from,” Esther says in Brianna Ghey: A Mother’s Story.

“Hold your children tight and never stop telling them that you love them.”

Brianna Ghey: A Mother’s Story airs tonight at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.