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Becky Watts suspect was playing video game when police arrived to arrest him Becky Watts suspect was playing video game when police arrived to arrest him
(about 4 hours later)
Nathan Matthews was playing a video game and his partner Shauna Hoare was cooking eggs when police arrived to arrest them over the disappearance of the Bristol teenager Becky Watts, a court has heard. Nathan Matthews was playing a video game and his partner, Shauna Hoare, was cooking eggs when police arrived to arrest them over the disappearance of the Bristol teenager Becky Watts, a court has heard.
Matthews was asked four times by the arresting officer if he could say where his stepsister Becky was or if she was safe but each time he replied simply: “No comment.” The arresting officer asked Matthews four times if he could say where his stepsister Becky was or if she was safe, but each time he replied simply: “No comment.”
Hoare had tears in her eyes as she was arrested and when she was asked if Becky was safe, answered “I don’t know”, Bristol crown court heard. Hoare had tears in her eyes as she was arrested. An officer asked her: “Can you help us find out if Becky is safe?” Hoare replied: “I don’t know how to.”
A jury has been told that Matthews, 28, and Hoare, 21, murdered Becky at her home in Bristol, took her body back to their house two miles away, dismembered it and hid the remains in a neighbour’s garden shed.A jury has been told that Matthews, 28, and Hoare, 21, murdered Becky at her home in Bristol, took her body back to their house two miles away, dismembered it and hid the remains in a neighbour’s garden shed.
The prosecution has alleged that the murder was sexually-motivated and that the pair had a fascination with the idea of kidnap and an unnatural interest in young girls. The prosecution has alleged that the murder was sexually motivated and that the pair had a fascination with the idea of kidnap and an unnatural interest in young girls.
Matthews, a delivery driver and former Territorial Army soldier, admits the manslaughter of Becky, dismembering her body and possessing two stun guns. He denies conspiracy to kidnap and murder. Hoare denies any involvement in a plot to kidnap, the murder or the aftermath.Matthews, a delivery driver and former Territorial Army soldier, admits the manslaughter of Becky, dismembering her body and possessing two stun guns. He denies conspiracy to kidnap and murder. Hoare denies any involvement in a plot to kidnap, the murder or the aftermath.
In the days following Becky’s disappearance on 19 February the couple suddenly got back in touch with Hoare’s estranged mother, Lisa Donovan, and spent many hours at her home, five miles from their house.In the days following Becky’s disappearance on 19 February the couple suddenly got back in touch with Hoare’s estranged mother, Lisa Donovan, and spent many hours at her home, five miles from their house.
They were arrested there nine days after Becky vanished. DC Russell Saunders said: “Nathan Matthews was playing a video game on a wall-mounted television and did not acknowledge us when we came into the house.They were arrested there nine days after Becky vanished. DC Russell Saunders said: “Nathan Matthews was playing a video game on a wall-mounted television and did not acknowledge us when we came into the house.
“Shauna Hoare was cooking eggs on a cooker in the kitchen. I asked her to stop cooking so I could speak to her safely. I said I had something to tell her she may find upsetting.”“Shauna Hoare was cooking eggs on a cooker in the kitchen. I asked her to stop cooking so I could speak to her safely. I said I had something to tell her she may find upsetting.”
He arrested her and cautioned her. Hoare made no reply. “I noticed [she] had tears forming in her eyes,” said Saunders. He then asked her about Becky’s whereabouts. When he asked: “Can you help us find out if Becky is safe?”, Hoare replied: “I don’t know how to.” He arrested her and cautioned her. Hoare made no reply. “I noticed [she] had tears forming in her eyes,” said Saunders. He then asked her about Becky’s whereabouts. When he asked her if she could help officers find out if Becky was safe, Hoare replied: “I don’t know how to.”
A second detective constable, Rob Dolan, told Matthews he needed to carry out an “urgent interview” with him. Matthews answered “No comment” to the four questions about Becky. Both suspects were then taken to a police station. A second detective constable, Rob Dolan, told Matthews he needed to carry out an “urgent interview” with him. Matthews answered “no comment” to the four questions about Becky. Both suspects were then taken to a police station.
In an earlier voluntary interview with police as officers searched for clues about Becky’s disappearance, Matthews described a difficult relationship with his stepsister. It has also emerged that Hoare spoke about Becky in the past tense when she was informally questioned about her disappearance the day before she and Matthews were arrested.
He told police: “I don’t particularly talk to her but I don’t particularly like her. The way she speaks to my mum or when she leaves clothes on the floor my mum could trip up on – she is self-centred in a sense. Sometimes she will be rude or whatever or demanding.” During a voluntary police interview, Hoare said Matthews was upset that his stepsister was missing because of the effect it was having on his mother.
Matthews told police he doubted that she had anorexia. “Obviously I don’t mean to be nasty, the anorexia thing, I know she started eating less but I don’t believe it is a condition,” he said. Matthews said he felt having anorexia made her feel “more special”. In the interview shown to Bristol crown court, Hoare said: “He’s found it quite hard actually … knowing how hard it would be for his mum at the moment because Becky was almost like a daughter to her.”
The jury has been told that eventually Matthews admitted killing Becky but claimed he had dreamt up the idea of going to her home armed with a stun gun and wearing a mask to teach her a lesson for the way she treated his mother. Members of Becky’s family wept on Wednesday as DS John Dowding described how he found Becky’s remains in the garden shed on 2 March.
He described seeing a blue plastic chest, rucksack, suitcases and black bags stacked up inside. He told the jury he and a fellow officer decided to open one. The officer said several parcels, wrapped up with layers of cling film, were inside. He probed them and came upon a body part.
The jury also heard from pathologist Dr Deborah Cook, who examined the teenager’s body. Becky’s father, Darren Galsworthy, her uncle Sam Galsworthy and aunt Sarah Broom, listened as the jury was told parts of the remains were wrapped in a “Wacky Warehouse” birthday bag.
Cook said Becky’s torso suffered 15 stab wounds consistent with a kitchen knife. The teenager had also been bruised on more than 40 separate areas of her body before she died. There were also injuries that Cook believed had been caused by a screwdriver.
The court has heard that eventually Matthews admitted killing Becky but claimed he had dreamed up the idea of going to her home armed with a stun gun and wearing a mask to teach her a lesson for the way she treated his mother. He claims he strangled her after his mask slipped but the pathologist suggested she was suffocated, which needs more force.
He has described Becky, who had suffered from anorexia, as “self-centred” and rude to his mother. He also said he did not believe her anorexia was real but it made her feel “more special”.
The trial continues.The trial continues.