The woman accused of murdering the Bristol teenager Becky Watts has said she felt “angry” with her partner for “chucking everything away” after hearing that he had admitted killing his stepsister.
Shauna Hoare and Nathan Matthews are accused of murdering 16-year-old Becky, dismembering her body and hiding her remains in a garden shed. Hoare denies any involvement while Matthews has admitted the manslaughter of Becky and trying to conceal her body parts.
On her third and final day in the witness box at Bristol crown court, Hoare was asked why she had been angry when she heard that Matthews had admitted killing Becky.
She said: “It was just the fact that he had lied the whole entire time … All of the pain he would have caused his mum and anyone else and not understanding his reasons for doing any of it. Chucking everything he has away and not understanding why.”
Hoare, 21, is alleged to have killed Becky in a sexually motivated kidnap plot with Matthews, 28, on 19 February. The court has been told that the pair, who allegedly shared an interest in petite teenage girls, suffocated 5ft 1in Becky in a violent struggle at her home in Crown Hill, Bristol.
They are said to have dragged Becky’s body downstairs, put it in the boot of their Vauxhall Zafira car and driven it to their home two miles away in Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol. Over the next three days, Matthews and Hoare allegedly dismembered Becky in their bath with a circular saw, packing her body parts in suitcases and a box. These were discovered by police in a shed in Barton Court, 80 metres from the couple’s terraced home, on 3 March.
Hoare told the jury that her relationship with Matthews had not been good at the time. “It still wasn’t happy,” she said. “It was better than it had been before. He was still controlling, he was still quite angry at me most of the time, so it wasn’t good.
“Normally he would call me fat a lot of the time or make mean jokes about my weight. He would point out my stretch marks and not be very nice about me.”
The court heard that Hoare had previously told Matthews about a plan to kidnap a boy who kept running away to teach him the consequences of his actions.
Matthews claims he plotted to kidnap Becky to “teach her a lesson” as she was rude to his mother, Anjie Galsworthy – her stepmother.
Andrew Langdon QC, representing Hoare, asked: “Had there been a recent discussion about this story in the weeks or months or days leading up to when we are dealing with?” Hoare replied: “No.”
Matthews denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap. He admits killing Becky, perverting the course of justice, preventing the burial of a corpse and possessing a prohibited weapon.
Hoare denies murder, conspiracy to kidnap, perverting the course of justice, preventing burial of a corpse and possessing a prohibited weapon. The trial continues.
