Judge in tears as he gives Becky’s killers 50 years
He breaks down paying tribute to victim’s family
A JUDGE broke down in tears yesterday when he praised the ‘dignified’ family of Becky Watts after jailing her killers for 50 years.
Mr Justice Dingemans had to stop to compose himself as tears welled up in his eyes and his face flushed red. He left the courtroom visibly upset.
Judges usually make their remarks and then send the guilty down. But Mr Justice Dingemans first ordered 16-year-old Becky’s stepbrother Nathan Matthews to serve at least 33 years for her ‘barbaric’ murder. And he jailed his girlfriend Shauna Hoare for at least 17 years for her role in the sexually motivated killing.
But then, his voice trembling, he told Becky’s family: ‘Finally, I should like to pay public tribute to the family of Becky for the dignified way in which they have conducted themselves throughout these proceedings. Hearing the evidence during the trial has been difficult for anyone, but it is plain that it has been an immense burden for the family.’
The judge has three children – one a teenage girl – and at 51 is the same age as Becky’s father.
Mike Courtiour, who was the senior investigating officer in the case, defended the judge following the hearing.
‘He’s a human being and not a robot,’ said the detective superintendent. ‘It highlights the abhorrent nature of the case. All the professionals involved will never forget their involvement in it.’
Becky’s cousin Dale West said: ‘For the judge to show his emotions at the end, shows he feels how we feel. He was hurting as much as we were hurting.’
On Wednesday, a jury at Bristol Crown Court took fewer than four hours to convict Matthews, 28, of murder. Hoare, 21, was found guilty of manslaughter. Both were convicted of kidnap, perverting the course of justice, preventing a lawful burial and possessing two stun gun torches. The couple targeted 5ft 1in Becky due to their shared dislike of her and their interest in petite teenagers.
Yesterday, Matthews bowed his head as he was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of at least 33 years – taking him to the age of 61. The judge warned him he could die in jail.
Becky’s father Darren Galsworthy told the court the
‘He’s human, not a robot’
news of his daughter’s brutal death had ‘cast him off a cliff into despair’.
In the statement read by Becky’s uncle Sam Galsworthy, he said: ‘It truly would have been much easier to have taken us all, than have to cope with the aftermath of this crime.’
And he said he saw visions of his daughter’s death every night when he closed his eyes for sleep, adding: ‘I hear her cry and see her terror, and then her realisation they are not going to stop. I feel her heart racing and I am all too powerless to help her. Becky was so small and fragile she never stood a chance.’
Mr Justice Dingemans said the evidence had shown Matthews had ‘developed a fixation with having sex with petite teenage girls’ like Becky, and Hoare had been persuaded to participate in this fixation.
He also described the ‘particularly cruel and unusual’ way in which the couple had lied to their family and police by saying they knew nothing about Becky’s disappearance.
Andrew Langdon, in mitigation, stressed Hoare would not have been ‘enthusiastically’ part of a plan to kidnap Becky, adding: ‘She is not an evil child killer.’ Matthews’ barrister had called on the judge not to impose a full life tariff, adding: ‘You have seen evidence of shame and anguish in the witness box.’
But Mr Courtiour said later: ‘Matthews and Hoare have never shown any remorse for their grotesque actions and today’s sentence reflects their refusal to take full responsibility for their callous crimes.’
Karl Demetrius, 30, and his partner Jaydene Parsons, 23, will be sentenced in February after admitting assisting an offender.
The couple admitted the crime on the basis that they did not know the packages they stored in their garden shed in Bristol were Becky’s sawn-up body parts.
Mr Justice Dingemans has 30 years of experience in the criminal courts and was counsel in the Hutton inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly.