In the hours before her murder, 16-year-old Becky Watts was carefree and having fun. She attended a social evening at the local rugby club then stayed up all night with a friend playing computer games and watching films.
Not long before she was attacked, she texted her boyfriend, Luke Oberhansli: “I love you so much.” Friends and relatives said she was looking forward to a bright, happy future.
Life had not always been this good for Becky. Her parents, Darren Galsworthy and Tanya Watts, broke up and when she was three she began living with her father and his new partner, Anjie, the mother of Nathan Matthews.
When she went to primary school she was so shy that she would not let Anjie leave her alone and her stepmother became an unpaid classroom helper so they could remain close.
It got worse at secondary school when she was teased over her weight and she became anorexic aged 13. She dropped to less than 6st (38kg), refused to go to school and for a while was home tutored.
Galsworthy described these as “very dark times”, adding: “Becky was bullied about her weight and we almost lost her to anorexia. But with a lot of care from us and hospital education we were able to get our Becky back.”
Galsworthy said she gradually became more confident, began to go out more and more and became fashion conscious, always looking “immaculate”. Images shown to the jury of Becky’s bedroom revealed a love of shoes, trainers and boots (stacked neatly) and makeup. She liked music, was fond of animals and looked forward to trips to the cinema.
Her maternal grandmother, Patricia Watts, described Becky as a “faultless” girl, loyal, funny and sensible. Her mother, Tanya, said one of Becky’s talents was to keep her parents friendly after they split. She called her a “caring, normal, happy, lovely girl”. This is not to say she was perfect – like any teenager she had her moods and often clashed with her father and stepmother.
Her murder, and what happened to her body afterwards, shocked Bristol, and hundreds of people turned out to her funeral, many in T-shirts featuring her image and throwing pink roses towards the horse-drawn carriage that bore her white coffin.
Becky’s coffin was carried into the church to Leona Lewis’s song Footprints in the Sand, and Newton Faulkner’s Dream Catch Me was among the songs played during the service, which ended with Becky’s grandfather John Galsworthy singing the ballad Somewhere from the musical West Side Story.
Darren Galsworthy summed up the mood: “Becky has left a huge void in our lives. We all loved you so much and as you look down from heaven just look at what your short life has achieved – not bad for a shy girl. You will forever be in our hearts and thoughts, rest in peace angel of Bristol.”
