Becky Watts murder trial: Recap as stepbrother and girlfriend deny murdering schoolgirl in 'sexually motivated' plot

The couple accused of murdering schoolgirl Becky Watts in a 'sexually motivated' plot will continue their defence today.

Nathan Matthews, 28, admits killing his 16-year-old stepsister at her home in Bristol then chopping up her body with a circular power saw.

But he insists he did not intend to cause Becky serious harm and suffocated her accidentally during a bungled kidnap attempt.

He has also told the jury he acted alone.

Prosecutors allege Matthews and his girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, murdered Becky in her bedroom, claiming the pair were motivated by a shared sexual interest in "petite, teenage girls".

Hoare denies five charges including murder.

Donovan Demetrius and James Ireland each deny a charge of assisting an offender.

'It might seem slightly unlikely - but it's completely plausible'

Hoare said her version of events was true.
She said: “It might seem slightly unlikely to people but it is completely plausible”.

Hoare said: “Most people don’t understand the concept of Nathan and my relationship.

“Things that seem normal to us wouldn’t seem normal to others.”
Hoare she lied to police about text messages she sent to Matthews about teenage girls and kidnapping because they looked “sinister and suspicious”.
Prosecutor Mr Mousley said: “Isn’t it the case that you and Nathan were in this together from start to finish?”
Hoare: “No.”
Mr Mousley: “That you went there together with the clear intention of taking her away to use for your purposes in which you were both so interested?”
Hoare: “No.”
Mr Mousley: “And you helped Nathan in the house to do that?”
Hoare: “No.”
Mr Mousley: “You knew what he was like and you knew Becky wouldn’t come quietly?”
Hoare: “No.”
Mr Mousley: “And you took an equal part with Nathan in trying to cover it all up?”

Hoare: “No.”

Mr Mousley: “You are not suggesting Nathan made you do things are you?”
Hoare: “No.”
Mr Mousley: “And you thought you could get away with it didn’t you?”
Hoare: “I didn’t have anything to get away with.”
Mr Mousley: “But in the end there were just too many bits of evidence against you?”
Hoare: “No.”
Mr Mousley: “Are you just very unlucky?”
Hoare: “Yes.”
The trial has been adjourned until tomorrow.

'I was asleep and did not hear Becky's body being moved in suitcases'

Hoare said when the couple returned home later that night she went to sleep and Matthews went outside to talk to the two people who gave them a lift.
She was asleep and did not hear any noises during the 40 minutes when Matthews says he and others moved Becky’s body out of the house in suitcases.

'At the time, I thought Becky joke was quite funny'

Hoare told the jury she wanted to re-establish contact with her estranged mum Lisa Donovan for the first time in years because of Becky being missing.
She said: “If anything should happen to me in that situation I wanted people to care.”
Hoare said she did not once talk to her mum about Becky’s disappearance during several visits in the coming days.
At the end of the week mum Lisa joked to Hoare that she had only got back in touch because she had kidnapped Becky and was on the run from police.
Asked what she thought of the joke, Hoare said: “At the time I thought it was quite funny.”

'I did not help boyfriend dispose of Becky's body'

Mr Mousley asked Shauna Hoare: “How long was he in that bathroom for on Saturday and Sunday?”
Hoare: “Probably an hour.”
Matthews was using the circular saw for about 20 minutes, she told the jury.
Hoare said she did not go into the bathroom to see how he was getting on or to take him a drink.
She said she did not help Matthews with the packing and bagging of Becky’s body or cleaning up the bathroom.
Hoare said she never had contact with two facemasks found in her house.

'It's just a coincidence Becky was lying dead in the bath a few feet away'

Hoare said the bathroom was out of order by the time she returned home with Matthews that night.
She said: “I noticed the house smelled of bleach and Nathan said the toilet was blocked and he was fixing it.”
Mr Mousley: “You knew why the bathroom was shut and who was in there at that stage?”
Hoare: “I didn’t know that, no.”
The jury heard the couple spent the evening playing games.
Hoare said she made an internet search for a video clip called “Do You Want To Hide A Body” - a parody of song in the Disney film Frozen.
She played the clip to boyfriend Matthews in their bedroom for 30 seconds.
Hoare said: “He kind of laughed.”
Mr Mousley: “It cheered him up?”
Hoare: “Yes.”
Mr Mousley: “So you both had a good laugh about it?”
Hoare: “Yes.”
Mr Mousley: “It’s just a coincidence Becky was lying dead in the bath a few feet away?”
Hoare: “Yes.”

Becky Watts

14:10

Matthews left 'to help friend'

Court has resumed after the lunch break.

The jury heard the day after Becky’s alleged murder Hoare and Matthews went back round to her family home in Bristol.
But during their visit Matthews told Hoare he had to leave to help a friend.
Hoare said it was the first time for “four or five” months that Matthews had met up with a pal.
Prosecutor Mr Mousley asked Hoare: “Were you keeping well away while Nathan was beginning to dispose of Becky?”
Hoare replied: “No.”
Mr Mousley: “And you knew all too well about that.”
Hoare: “No.”

13:08

'I was suffering morning sickness on day Becky was killed'

The jury heard the couple parked their Vauxhall Zafira on the drive at Becky’s home on the day she was killed so they could wash the car.
But Hoare said the car did not get washed because Matthews’ back hurt and she was suffering from morning sickness.
The trial has adjourned for lunch.

12:58

'Nathan could have struggled to subdue Becky on his own'

Hoare was asked if she believed Matthews’ claim that he had a long-standing problem with pain.
She said: “I did but I believe sometimes he would make it out to be worse if he didn’t want to do something.”
Mr Mousley said: “Would he have struggled to subdue Becky on his own?”
Hoare: “He could have - but not necessarily.”
Mr Mousley: “Would it have taken more than one person to subdue her?”
Hoare: “I wouldn’t be able to guess how many people it would take to subdue her.”

12:53

Matthews 'looked casual and normal' after Becky killing

Hoare told the jury she was “just socialising” when she went to Becky’s family home on the day of the alleged murder.
Hoare was the registered carer for Becky’s step-mum Anjie Galsworthy’s who suffers from MS.

When Hoare and Matthews arrived at the house, Anjie was out at a hospital appointment.
Hoare told the jury she did not do any chores at the house that day. She said boyfriend Matthews did the washing up.
The jury heard it was raining when the couple arrived at the house that day.
Hoare said she immediately went outside in the rain “for about 15 minutes”.
She said: “I don’t think I heard much, I may have heard the feint sound of music - that was it.”
Prosecutor Mr Mousley asked: “Did you hear any voices, any calling out?”
Hoare: “I don’t think so, no.”
Mr Mousley: “When you came back inside after 15 or 20 minutes what happened?”
Hoare: “I heard footsteps down the stairs and then the door slamming.”
She then went into the living room and saw Matthews sitting on the sofa.
Hoare said: “He looked very casual and normal.”

12:41

'My reply was sarcastic'

The couple messaged each other last November about having sex with teenage girls, the jury heard.
Hoare said: “These were sarcastic comments made by me about Nathan’s remarks.
“It’s just the way I was.”
Hoare said she “didn’t think it was very nice” that her boyfriend was interested in teenage girls.
The jury heard last December, Matthews asked Hoare in messages to bring back two pretty schoolgirls.

She replied: “Yes I’ll just kidnap them.”
Hoare told the court: “My reply was sarcastic as it usually was.”
The jury heard she went to Costcutters and saw a very pretty girl - sending a message to Matthews saying “I almost knocked out to bring her home”.
Hoare said: “I was trying to get him in a good mood. It was not something we would actually do.”
The jury heard Hoare then sent another message to Matthews about putting a girl “in the attic”.

12:35

'I wasn't jealous of Becky'

Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare (in fancy dress)

Hoare was asked if she thought the same as Matthews - that Becky’s anorexia was attention-seeking.
She said: “I thought some of it was attention seeming, yes.
“I thought she got away with a lot of stuff, yes.”
The jury heard the couple both thought Becky received “special treatment”.
She said: “I think Nathan had an extreme view and didn’t like her.
“I thought she was a typical 16-year-old teenage girl.”
Mr Mousley: “Did you think she needed to be taught a lesson, terrified by someone?”
Hoare: “No.”

She added: “I didn’t dislike Becky - I disliked her actions.
“I wasn’t jealous of Becky, no. With Nathan it was more sibling rivalry.”
Mr Mousley asked Hoare if she thought she might be able to get some pleasure by mistreating Becky.
Hoare replied: “No.”
Mr Mousley said: “Were you both interested in teenage females?”
Hoare: “No.”
Mr Mousley: “Why did you give that impression then?”
Hoare: “Because I knew he was into that kind of thing and I wanted to make him into a better mood.”

12:15

'It is just extremely unfortunate we talked about kidnapping teenage girl'

Hoare is now being cross examined by prosecutor William Mousley QC.
He asked if she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Hoare said: “I didn’t believe I was in the wrong place - I was in my house which is the normal place to be.”
Mr Mousley: “Is it just an unhappy coincidence you and Nathan were talking about kidnapping a teenage girl?”
Hoare: “It is just extremely unfortunate.”
Mr Mousley: “Why did you not see any signs of agitation in Nathan?”
Hoare replied: “Me and many others no.”
Mr Mousley: “You were in blissful ignorance of everything that had taken place?”
Hoare: “Yes.”

I was in prison cell when I found out from TV I had been charged with murder'

Hoare told the jury one of her t-shirts was found in a suitcase in the garden shed where Becky’s dismembered body was found.
A pair of trousers and a black top belonging to Matthews was also found in one of the suitcases in the shed.
Hoare said she did not know who owned a pair of black boots which were also recovered there - but she thought a pair of brown boots found by police were Becky’s.
The jury heard Hoare was initially charged with perverting the course of justice.
She in June she found out she was being charged with murder.
She said: “I was in my cell when the governor came and told me he had seen on TV that I I had been charged with murder.”
Hoare’s barrister Andrew Langdon QC asked her: “Were you part of a plan to kidnap becky Watts?”
Hoare replied: “No.”
Barrister: “Do you have any idea now how he killed her?”
Hoare: “No.”
Barrister: “Nathan has been violent to you in the past - has he ever caused you serious injury?”
Hoare: “Not serious, no.”
Barrister: “Did you think he was sexually attracted to her?”
Hoare: “No.”
Barrister: “Did you think he was capable of killing her?”
Hoare: “No.”
Barrister: “It’s suggested you helped him dismember her - did you?”
Hoare: “No.”
Barrister: “Did you know what he was doing?”
Hoare: “No.”

11:48

'I had no idea Becky's body was in garden shed'

The jury heard Hoare was then interviewed by police “for days on end” - she did not ask for a solicitor to be present at the first interview.
Hoare was asked if she had any idea about what was hidden in the garden shed where Becky’s body was found.
She replied: “No.”
The jury is now on a ten-minute break.

SWNS

We told relatives we were having job interviews - not speaking to police'

When the pair went for video interviews with the police, they lied to relatives that they were going for job interviews, the jury heard.
Hoare said the idea to lie about the interviews came from Matthews.
She said he did not want her to talk to people about Becky.
The jury heard the couple were later arrested at Hoare’s mum’s house in Bristol.
Asked about her reaction to the arrest, Hoare said: “Originally complete shock.”

I thought she was still alive'

The jury heard Hoare and Matthews were driving to her mum’s house that evening when the police phoned asking to search their home.
Officers were waiting for the couple when they got to mum Lisa’s home.
Hoare was asked what she thought had happened to Becky at that stage.
She said:”I thought she was still alive. I thought the police were just wanting to find out as much information as they can.
“I think I was becoming more concerned.
“I just thought she would be off with her friends somewhere.”

'I was surprised when Nathan agreed to come visit my mum'

Hoare is now being asked about visits she made with Matthews to her mum Lisa Donovan after Becky’s murder.
She had not seen her mum for four years.
Hoare said it was her idea to make the visits - but she was not expecting Matthews to agree to it.
She said: “I was surprised.”

'He seemed frustrated and I didn't care'

The jury heard that while the bathroom was out of action the couple used a red Lego bucket as a a makeshift loo.
Hoare was asked why she did not quiz Matthews about what he was doing with the saw in the bathroom.
She said: “He seemed quite frustrated and I didn’t care - as he was doing quite a boring job I just left him to it.”
Eventually, Hoare said she asked Matthews if she could use the bathroom again.
She said: “He said: ‘You can’.
“I was quite annoyed he did not tell me earlier.”

Avon and Somerset Police

I heard power saw but thought Nathan was fixing bathroom pipe'

Hoare said that day she heard the sound of a power saw in the bathroom.

Matthews has previously told the jury how he used the £80 circular saw to chop up his step-sister Becky’s body in the bathroom.
Hoare told the jury: “Nathan said because the toilet was blocked he needed to cut some pipe from the back of the toilet.
“I just assumed he was doing what he said he was doing.
“I don’t think it was constant - I think there were a couple of gaps, probably 15 or 20 minutes.
“I believe he stayed in the bathroom for quite a while after.”
Hoare said she did not think Matthews had solved the problem of the blocked toilet.

Court has resumed and co-accused Shauna Hoare is back in the witness box on Day 18 of the Becky Watts murder trial.
The jury is hearing how Hoare went shopping in Asda in Bedminster, Bristol, two days after Becky’s murder.
A receipt showed Hoare and boyfriend Nathan Matthews bought bleach, toilet cleaner, bin bags, cling film and flea powder.
Asked who selected these items, Hoare said: “Nathan was.
“He was slightly more happy than he usually was.”
The prosecution allege the couple used the cleaning items in the disposal of Becky’s dismembered body.

Shauna Hoare 'lied about kidnap messages - but meant hem sarcastically'

Elizabeth Cook/PA

Shauna Hoare

Before court adjourned on Friday, the jury heard evidence from Shauna Hoare.

She took to the stand and admitted sending Nathan Matthews messages about kidnapping teenage girls - butinsisted she meant them “sarcastically”.

One message Hoare sent to Matthews read: “Just went to Costcutters.... saw a very pretty teenage girl....almost brought her home”.

Hoare told the jury she had been to Costcutters but she made up the message.

Another read: “LMFAO yeah, I’ll just go back in time to when I last saw her and then time travel with her to our attic, lol. xoxo.”

Hoare told the jury: “It was meant sarcastically, I have a very sarcastic nature. It wasn’t an actual idea.

“I thought they were completely harmless, inappropriate comments and I could get him in a good mood.

“Sometimes I would make things up to get him in a good mood.”

Hoare admitted she lied to police when asked about the messages.

She told the court: “I regret it massively for two reasons.

“One, I shouldn’t have lied and also because it makes it looks worse than if I told the truth, just like this.”

Hoare was also asked if she thought Matthews would kidnap a teenage girl.

She laughed briefly, then said “No”

10:20

Becky Watts murder trial continues

The couple accused of murdering schoolgirl Becky Watts will return to court today as the jury hears more evidence for the defence.

Nathan Matthews, 28, and Shauna Hoare, 21, deny murdering the 16-year-old in a ‘sexually motivated’ plot.

Matthews admits killing his stepsister but insists he acted alone and accidentally suffocated Becky during a bungled kidnap attempt.

Hoare denies any role in Becky’s death.

Matthews also admits chopping up Becky’s body with a circular power saw and charges including perverting the course of justice, preventing Becky’s lawful burial and possession of a prohibited weapon.

Donovan Demetrius and James Ireland each deny assisting an offender.