Becky Watts trial: Nathan Matthews' plan was 'bone headed'

Nathan Matthews' plan to kidnap Becky was "bone headed" and "absurd", his barrister said

A plan to kidnap teenager Becky Watts, whose dismembered body was found in a shed, was "bone headed, extreme and frankly absurd", a court heard.

Nathan Matthews, 28, has admitted killing and dismembering Becky, his stepsister, but denies murder.

Defence barrister Adam Vaitilingam QC told a jury at Bristol Crown Court that Mr Matthews treated her body with "a lack of compassion and humanity".

His girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, also denies murdering the 16-year-old.

In his closing speech, Mr Vaitilingam said Mr Matthews admitted he planned to kidnap his stepsister and claimed it had gone wrong, but denied he had done it with his girlfriend.

The barrister said the idea that the kidnap plot was sexually motivated was not the explanation "that fits best with the evidence".

"He did what he did and you have to judge what was in his mind at the time he did it," he told jurors.

Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare (right) are accused of murdering Becky Watts (left)

He said Mr Matthews was "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.

"I ask that you approach his case in the same fair way you would approach any defendant charged with any crime.

"His right to a fair trial... hasn't disappeared because of what he has done."

Shauna Hoare's barrister, Andrew Langdon QC, suggested Ms Hoare was unaware of Becky's death and Mr Matthews would have wanted to "keep it a secret" and to "stay in control" of the situation.

Nathan Matthews (left) and Shauna Hoare (right) deny murdering Becky Watts

The court heard that Ms Hoare had searched online for a parody song entitled Do You Want To Hide A Body? when Becky's body was in the bathroom.

Mr Langdon said: "If she knew what had happened and what Nathan Matthews was doing, would she think it was time for a joke and a laugh?

"Shauna is not a murderess. She wouldn't be guilty of murder unless the prosecution had made you sure that she... intended that Becky be killed or caused really serious injury by Nathan Matthews."

Mr Matthews, of Hazelbury Drive, Warmley, South Gloucestershire, admits perverting the course of justice, preventing lawful burial and possessing a prohibited weapon. He denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap.

Ms Hoare, of Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol, denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap, a weapons charge, perverting the course of justice and preventing a burial.

Two other men, Donovan Demetrius, 29, and James Ireland, 23, deny assisting an offender.

The trial continues.