Becky Watts' mum's anger as daughter's killer Shauna Hoare is released from prison

The mother of murdered Bristol teenager Becky Watts says she's been left angered as the "cold and evil" woman jailed for her manslaughter has been released from prison.

Shauna Hoare has been released on licence after serving half of the 17 year sentence for her part in the death of Becky Watts eight years ago.

Becky’s mother Tanya has said she has been dreading the day to arrive and felt "helpless" knowing that the woman convicted of her daughter's manslaughter would be out of prison.

Becky, 16, was last seen at her home in St George in Bristol before she disappeared on 19 February in 2015. A major community search then got underway in the weeks that followed.

The search ended when Becky’s dismembered body was found on 3 March, close to the flat in Barton Hill where Becky's step-brother Nathan Matthews lived with his partner Shauna Hoare. The pair were arrested.

After a trial in October 2015, Nathan Matthews was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 33 years.

Hoare, who was 21 at the time, and is now 29, was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 17 years. She spent a total of eight and a half years in custody before she was released on Friday 1 September.

Becky’s mum, Tanya Watts, said she has been "counting down" and dreading the day of Hoare's release.

“I’ve got a support worker who is able to tell me, and I knew this day was coming. I was told a few weeks ago it would be early September, and I got the call this morning,” she said.

“I honestly don’t know what to think, it’s very difficult. The main feeling is anger, I’m so angry, but what can I do?” she said.

“It’s been hanging over me for a while, and I’ve been counting down the days, but now she’s out there somewhere, what can I do? How do I feel?”

It is understood part of the conditions of Shauna Hoare’s release is that she is not allowed to return to Bristol, but Home Office officials will give no details of the arrangements for Hoare’s release into the community.

“I don’t want her to feel like she’s free to walk down the street without a care in the world, after what she did. I think she’s cold and evil.

"The worst thing for me is that Becky trusted her and what eats away at me is when I remember all those times when I would ring Becky and Shauna would answer and she was so sweet, and for a few seconds sometimes I would mistake her for Becky.

“Becky liked her and trusted her and she betrayed Becky’s trust, and it is hard when I think of how she smiled at the camera in the police station when she was arrested," Tanya added.

“She’s not even 30, she’s got her whole life ahead of her and she’s got a future, whereas when we go to talk to our daughter, we’re talking to the ground,” she said.

Following the convictions, there were multiple reviews and reports into the case, most notably the Safeguarding Children Board's review of 2018, because both killers and Becky were known to social services and other authorities.

In early 2020, the final report was a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR), produced by the Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership.

It found a total of 16 different agencies covering 17 local services in Bristol had worked with Becky Watts, Nathan Matthews and Hoare for a total of six years leading up to her murder in February 2015.

However none of the agencies knew, or had worked out, that Becky, Matthews and Hoare were part of the same family.

In January 2020, Tanya Watts said she was "horrified" to discover five years since her daughter’s death, that Becky had confided in a friend that her step brother had sexually abused her as a child.