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| Becky Watts was killed in sexually motivated attack, jury told | Becky Watts was killed in sexually motivated attack, jury told |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Bristol teenager Becky Watts was killed in a sexually motivated attack by her stepbrother and his partner, who then carried out a a “deliberate, carefully planned and grotesquely executed plan” to cover up what they had done, a jury heard. | The Bristol teenager Becky Watts was killed in a sexually motivated attack by her stepbrother and his partner, who then carried out a a “deliberate, carefully planned and grotesquely executed plan” to cover up what they had done, a jury heard. |
| Becky’s stepbrother, Nathan Matthews, 28, and Shauna Hoare, 21, are accused of conspiring to kidnap, and murdering, the 16-year-old. They deny the charges. | Becky’s stepbrother, Nathan Matthews, 28, and Shauna Hoare, 21, are accused of conspiring to kidnap, and murdering, the 16-year-old. They deny the charges. |
| Opening the case, William Mousley QC, prosecuting, said Becky was suffocated despite fighting for her life. He said: “There is good reason to believe there was a sexual motive.” | |
| Bristol crown court was told that the pair had a “shared unnatural interest in attractive females”. | Bristol crown court was told that the pair had a “shared unnatural interest in attractive females”. |
| Mousley continued: “There followed a deliberate, carefully planned and grotesquely executed plan to cover up her killing. Following her removal from her home, over the course of the next few days, her body was cut up with a knife and a power saw.” | Mousley continued: “There followed a deliberate, carefully planned and grotesquely executed plan to cover up her killing. Following her removal from her home, over the course of the next few days, her body was cut up with a knife and a power saw.” |
| The parts were “carefully packaged and then moved to another address to prevent them being found and lawfully buried where they intended to be stored probably temporarily until a final solution could be found”, he said. | The parts were “carefully packaged and then moved to another address to prevent them being found and lawfully buried where they intended to be stored probably temporarily until a final solution could be found”, he said. |
| The barrister said they were responsible for her death and the cover-up and were helped by others. The attack is said to have taken place on 19 February in Watts’s bedroom. | The barrister said they were responsible for her death and the cover-up and were helped by others. The attack is said to have taken place on 19 February in Watts’s bedroom. |
| The court heard that Becky vanished from her home, where she lived with her father, Darren Galsworthy, and stepmother, Anjie, in Crown Hill, Bristol, on 19 February. She was later reported missing by her father. | |
| Police launched a huge search, which led to her body parts being discovered in the garden shed of a house in Barton Hill, Bristol, on 2 March. | Police launched a huge search, which led to her body parts being discovered in the garden shed of a house in Barton Hill, Bristol, on 2 March. |
| The jury heard that Matthews eventually admitted killing Becky. He said he had tried to kidnap and imprison Becky and said he had strangled her. | |
| Mousley said Matthews claimed he acted alone in the killing, in her removal from her home to his and Hoare’s home, in the dismemberment and in arranging for the removal of her body parts to the shed at a third address in Barton Hill, Bristol. | Mousley said Matthews claimed he acted alone in the killing, in her removal from her home to his and Hoare’s home, in the dismemberment and in arranging for the removal of her body parts to the shed at a third address in Barton Hill, Bristol. |
| The court heard that police found evidence to suggest the killing was sexually motivated. The prosecutor said: “Evidence was found on telephones, computers and computer-related equipment connected to both Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare, which showed a shared interest in teenage and petite girls. | |
| “Also found at the their home were two stun guns, which were prohibited weapons and which may have been intended to be used in the name of the planned kidnap.” The weapons were ordered in Hoare’s name, the court heard. | “Also found at the their home were two stun guns, which were prohibited weapons and which may have been intended to be used in the name of the planned kidnap.” The weapons were ordered in Hoare’s name, the court heard. |
| The jury was told Hoare met Matthews when she was 15. Mousley said some would say that Matthews was controlling of Hoare but they had many shared interests. “They must have known pretty much everything about each other,” he said. | The jury was told Hoare met Matthews when she was 15. Mousley said some would say that Matthews was controlling of Hoare but they had many shared interests. “They must have known pretty much everything about each other,” he said. |
| The court was told in February that Hoare was pregnant. Matthews and Hoare already have a child. | |
| Matthews denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap. Hoare denies murder, conspiracy to kidnap, perverting the course of justice, preventing a lawful burial and possessing a prohibited weapon, namely two stun guns. | |
| Giving more details of the police investigation, the prosecutor said that when Becky still missing, a full-scale investigation was launched and detectives discovered that Matthews and Hoare had both visited Becky’s home on the morning of 19 February. | |
| “When asked they both lied in that they said they had heard but not seen Rebecca Watts at the address on their visit and had heard the front door slam as if [she] had gone out and that her whereabouts were as unknown to them as anyone else.” | “When asked they both lied in that they said they had heard but not seen Rebecca Watts at the address on their visit and had heard the front door slam as if [she] had gone out and that her whereabouts were as unknown to them as anyone else.” |
| But Becky’s blood was found on door frames outside her bedroom, some of which contained Matthews’ fingerprints. Matthews and Hoare were arrested for kidnap. “Two days later on 2 March that became murder,” Mousley said. | But Becky’s blood was found on door frames outside her bedroom, some of which contained Matthews’ fingerprints. Matthews and Hoare were arrested for kidnap. “Two days later on 2 March that became murder,” Mousley said. |
| The jury was told that on the day Becky was killed it was raining heavily. At 10.50am Matthews and Hoare left their home and stopped at a supermarket to buy batteries. “Possibly for a stun gun,” said Mousley. | The jury was told that on the day Becky was killed it was raining heavily. At 10.50am Matthews and Hoare left their home and stopped at a supermarket to buy batteries. “Possibly for a stun gun,” said Mousley. |
| At 11.03am Becky sent her last text message, to her boyfriend. Mousley said “in all probability” Becky was killed and her body dumped in the boot of Matthews’ and Hoare’s Vauxhall Zafira car. | |
| CCTV footage showed Matthews and Hoare driving home to Cotton Mill Lane with a child captured on camera sitting in the rear of the car. | |
| The couple arrived home shortly after 6.40pm. “Becky’s dead body was in the boot,” Mousley said. They ordered a takeaway from Laws Kitchen, where Matthews worked. Later one of them used a mobile to order a pizza and browse for television programmes. “All apparently normal behaviour other than the fact they had a dead body on their hands,” Mousley said. | |
| The next day Matthews sent a text to his employers saying he could not work at the weekend because his car was out of action. He was caught on CCTV visiting a shop to buy drain cleaner and then visited a B&Q store where he bought a circular power saw, gloves, face masks and goggles. He queried the price of the saw, the court heard. | |
| “He made it plain that he needed that saw and he needed to have it that day,” said Mousley. | |
| The jury was told that Becky had suffered anxiety and an eating disorder in the past. She had once told a child psychologist that she was frightened of Matthews. | The jury was told that Becky had suffered anxiety and an eating disorder in the past. She had once told a child psychologist that she was frightened of Matthews. |
| Becky’s body was found in a shed at 9, Barton Court, the home of Karl Demetrius, 29, and his girlfriend Jaydene Parsons, 23. It can now be reported that they admitted at an earlier hearing a charge of assisting an offender. | |
| However, they maintain they “did not know or believe” the bags contained Becky’s body. Mousley said: “Karl Demetrius says he believed it was cannabis but became increasingly suspicious that the contents related to Becky Watts. Jaydene Parsons says that she only formed the belief that the bags were related to criminal activity during the evening before her arrest.” | |
| Mousley alleged Karl Demetrius and another man, James Ireland, 23, helped transport body parts and items involved in the dismemberment. A fourth man, Donovan Demetrius, 29, was also regularly at the address and assisted in the continued concealment, it is claimed. Ireland and Donovan Demetrius deny assisting an offender and are also in the dock alongside Matthews and Hoare. | |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |