Becky Watts trial: Stepbrother's girlfriend Shauna Hoare 'regrets' lying about kidnap texts
The woman accused of murdering teenager Becky Watts with her boyfriend has spent her first day giving evidence at Bristol Crown Court.
Shauna Hoare, 21, allegedly killed the 16-year-old in a sexually motivated kidnap plot with her boyfriend - Becky's stepbrother - Nathan Matthews.
The woman accused of murdering teenager Becky Watts with her boyfriend has spent her first day giving evidence at Bristol Crown Court.
Shauna Hoare, 21, allegedly killed the 16-year-old in a sexually motivated kidnap plot with her boyfriend - Becky's stepbrother - Nathan Matthews.
The pair are both charged with murder, perverting the course of justice and preventing a lawful burial. Ms Hoare denies all charges.
Mr Matthews has denied murder but admitted manslaughter.
'Kidnap' text messages
The couple exchanged a series of messages about kidnapping, and having sex with teenage girls.
In one of the messages, sent between November and December last year, Ms Hoare wrote: "Just went into Costcutter and saw a pretty petite girl. Almost knocked her out to bring home lol xoxo."
Mr Matthews then replied: "Don't you 'almost' me ... Now DO IT b***h!! xxxxx."
His girlfriend then responded: "Yeah I'll just go back in time to when I saw her then time travel her to our attic lol xoxo."
Ms Hoare said that when police initially presented her with the messages she denied they were anything to do with her in a "panic".
"I knew what Nathan had been charged with," she told the jury. "I knew what had actually happened and I knew how bad it looked."
She added: "I regret it massively because, one, I should not have lied and, second, because of the way it looks and I should have told the truth in the first place."
Andrew Langdon QC, defending Hoare, asked her why she did not rebuke Matthews for writing inappropriate texts about teenage girls.
"If I had said something like that he would have got angry," she said. "A lot of the time I accepted the inappropriate things he said.
Mr Langdon also asked: "Did you think Nathan was going to kidnap a girl?" Ms Hoare replied: "No".
Hiding body video
Shauna Hoare said she and Nathan watched a YouTube video about hiding a body multiple times because they thought it was "funny".
Relationship with Nathan Matthews
Bristol Crown Court heard Ms Hoare's relationship with the 28-year-old was controlling and at times violent.
She said Mr Matthews controlled her food and money, and she would have to pay him to let her smoke.
Ms Hoare also said her boyfriend's behaviour was erratic, saying,"there were good times as well as bad times with Nathan. It would depend on if he was in a good mood".
She described several occasions when Mr Matthews was violent towards her, including an incident when he strangled her.
"I was panicked and scared", she said.
She also recalled another incident when Mr Matthews pulled her hair and pulled her across the bed, saying he was "very very sorry" afterwards.
Ms Hoare said there were times when she wanted to leave Matthews, but had been too scared to do so.
Stun guns
The court has previously heard two stun guns found at the couple's home "may have been intended for use in the planned kidnap".
The jury heard that they were purchased in the name Shauna Phillips - the name Hoare used unofficially as she did not like her surname.
These were posted to Becky's family home, where Hoare was a carer for Mr Matthews's mother, Anjie Galsworthy - Becky's stepmother.
Ms Hoare told the court she had seen one of the weapons, with POLICE written on the side, in her bedroom.
"I thought it was a torch," she said. "He [Nathan] used it as a torch in the bedroom. He had many torches."
She added that she had not believed her boyfriend was "capable" of kidnapping someone and he had never spoken to her about a plan.
The trial was adjourned until Monday.