The couple accused of murdering 16-year-old Becky Watts exchanged messages about sex with teenagers and kidnapping schoolgirls, a court heard.
Nathan Matthews, 28, and Shauna Hoare, 21, are charged with killing Becky at her home in Bristol after hatching a sexually-motivated kidnap plot. They then allegedly dismembered her body and hid the parts in a garden shed.
Bristol crown court heard Matthews and Hoare allegedly exchanged text and Facebook messages about schoolgirls and kidnap in November and December last year – a few months before Becky’s death in February.
Shaun Groves, a crime intelligence analyst, told the court it had not always been possible to say which of the two had written the messages.
In an alleged exchange on 9 December, one wrote: “Bring me bak [sic] two pretty schoolgirls then :) ... ” The alleged reply was: “lol yeh I’ll just kidnap them from school ... ”
Later that day, one wrote: “Just went into Costcutter and saw a pretty petite girl. Almost knocked her out to bring home lol xoxo.” A reply 20 seconds later read: “Don’t you ‘almost’ me ... Now DO IT bitch!! xxxxx,” the court heard.
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 alleged murder or the aftermath.
The court has heard that Matthews has claimed he dreamed up the idea of going to Becky’s 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 requires more force.
Becky was allegedly murdered on 19 February. On 24 February, Matthews texted his mother – Becky’s stepmother – Anjie Galsworthy: “Hi just thought I would update you the police have searched Shauna’s house and obviously found nothing. Hope you are managing as best as possible. See you tomorrow.”
Matthews later sent a text message to his boss at the Chinese takeaway where he worked as a delivery driver, saying he would not come into work for four weeks due to “major family issues”. “Everything is crazy, I’m very sorry,” he wrote.
The trial continues.
