Becky Watts trial: Prosecution says it was ‘carefully planned and grotesquely executed’ in closing arguments

THE gruesome murder of schoolgirl Becky Watts at the hands of her stepbrother captivated the world. What went so wrong in this family?

THE white T-shirt signed by friends hanging in her pink bedroom was a sign of a typical selfie-obsessed teen. So when 16-year-old Bristol schoolgirl Becky Watts went missing, her “out of character” disappearance made headlines.

Police from neighbouring counties were called in. Helicopters. Dogs. Divers in the lake and more than 150 locals showed up to lend their time and support to the distraught family. #FindBecky was trending online, and even the mayor tweeted his support for the search for the 1.6 metre teen in the blue puffer jacket who was missing with her phone and laptop.

Her father, Darren Galsworthy, issued a tearful plea on television. She wasn’t in trouble, he wasn’t angry. He just wanted a text or a call to know she was safe.

As locals made flyers and searched woodlands, police arrested two people on suspicion of kidnap and murder; Becky’s stepbrother, Nathan Matthews, 28, the son of Darren’s partner Anjie Galsworthy, and his girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, also known as Shauna Phillips.

As strangers left flowers and churches opened their doors, teams of forensic officers searched properties nearby. Twelve days after she went missing, Mr Galsworthy got his daughter back in the worst way imaginable, Becky’s aunt Sarah Broom wrote online. Police discovered her dismembered body in the shed of a nearby property.

“Twelve days of pure hell filled with heartache,” she said. ‘He is completely and utterly broken and there is nothing in this world of comfort to him — how does a parent ever recover from this? How can a family?

For Mr Galsworthy, the news was “too much to bear”. “We are at an utter loss to understand why anyone would want to hurt our beautiful Becky in such a brutal way,” he said.

For the family, the pain was ony just beginning.

Becky’s father Darren pictured with Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare.

Nine months on, details from those 12 days have been aired in Bristol’s Crown Court in an explosive three-week trial that has been played out across the front pages of national newspapers.

Matthews admitted killing the 16-year-old in a teary police confession but denies murder, saying he only wanted to teach her a lesson. He has also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, preventing her burial and possession of unlawful weapons in the form of two stun guns.

Hoare denies being involved. She is also charged with perverting the course of justice by hiding and dismembering the body, preventing her burial and possession of two stun guns but denies all charges and said she has no knowledge of what was happening at the time.

This week, there were extraordinary scenes as the public gallery erupted into applause as Donovan Demetrius — the twin brother of Karl Demetrius who lived in the property where Becky’s body was found — slammed Matthews for his “sickening” behaviour.

“I am here now and he can’t even bother to pick up his head and look at the family and see that he has destroyed their lives,” Mr Demetrius said. “Who in their right mind would dismember their own stepsister? It is sickening.”

‘SO SHE’D BE MORE APPRECIATIVE’

Prosecutor William Mousley QC has alleged throughout the trial the sordid affair was based around a plot to kidnap and kill Becky hatched by Matthews and Hoare as part of their sexual fixation on petite teenagers.

Jurors heard details of their sex-life, including from one woman who had a threesome with the pair during their six-year relationship, and were read text messages between the two about kidnapping young girls.

“F*** you bring me bak 2 pretty schoolgirls then (smiley face),” said one to a reply: “Lol yeh I’ll just kidnap them from school.”

“Just went to Cost Cutters and saw a very pretty, petite girl ... almost knocked her out to bring home lol,” said another. Devices from their also showed pages of pornography bookmarked and Matthews had a video called “virgin teen gets raped in own house” on his computer.

The court heard a tearful video of Matthews from his police statement on March 3 where he told officers he came up with the idea to scare Becky, so she would be more “appreciative” of others.

“She’d be grateful that she wasn’t harmed or anything like that because obviously she’d leave things out on the floor for my mum to trip over,” he said, while fretting about having to hear his statement played back.

“Are you going to have to read that statement? He said. “Because obviously I don’t want that to be read to someone.”

Nathan Matthews.

Shauna Hoare.

Becky’s bedroom where she was attacked. Picture: Avon and Somerset Police

Mr Mousley outlined how Matthews, a former territorial army reserve and takeaway delivery driver, surprised Becky in her room that night in late February and suffocated her to death.

He claimed Matthews and Hoare took her back to their own home in Cotton Mill Lane where they dismembered her body over several days in the bathtub. CCTV footage of Matthews buying a circular saw was played while the jury heard from the cashier how he quibbled over price.

The 10 men and two women also spent 16 minutes inside the family home where she died and were shown photographs of the bathroom, along with bloodstained clothing, goggles, tools, handcuffs and a shower curtain found stuffed in a suitcase where her body was eventually found.

He said Matthews offered James Ireland and Karl Demetrius more than $10,000 each to move the suitcases containing her body parts into the shed at their property nearby in Barton Court and described it as a “deliberate, carefully planned and grotesquely executed plan to cover up her killing”.

The bath at Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare’s home. Picture: Avon and Somerset Police

Demetrius and his partner Jaydene Parsons, who lived in the property, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender but said they never knew what was in the suitcases.

Throughout the trial Hoare has denied being involved and painted Matthews as a “controlling” and abusive boyfriend who would call her fat, point out her stretch marks and “not be very nice about me”.

She admitted most people don’t understand their relationship, saying: “It might seem slightly unlikely to people but it’s completely plausible.”

During closing statements on Friday, her lawyer Andrew Langdon described her as a “survivor” who had learned how to deal with Matthews. “Why does it have to involve Shauna at all?” he said, saying she is not “murderous”.

Matthews’ lawyer Adam Vaitilingam QC said while his client treated his sister with a “lack of humanity” that does not make him a murderer.

“A man who has shown himself to be capable of killing a 16-year-old and then treating her body with such a lack of compassion and humanity ... I do not ask for sympathy for Nathan Matthews. He deserves none,” he said.

The trial continues.