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Becky Watts' father: 'I would execute my daughter's murderer myself if I could'

'If they were going to hang him, I would pull the lever, so no one else would have to carry that guilt'

Alexandra Sims
Friday 11 March 2016 00:08 GMT
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Rebecca Watts' body was found hidden in suitcases and boxes after being dismembered with a knife and power saw
Rebecca Watts' body was found hidden in suitcases and boxes after being dismembered with a knife and power saw (pixel8000)

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The father of murdered teenager Becky Watts has said he wants his daughter's killer to face the death penalty if it were available, adding he would personally carry out the execution.

Darren Galsworthy said murder Nathan Matthews should be hanged for evading justice after brutally killing his stepsister.

Matthews murdered Becky after hatching a sexually-motivated plot to kidnap her with his girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, who was convicted of manslaughter.

Speaking to BBC2's Newsnight , Mr Galsworthy said he wanted Matthews dead.

"That might shock a few people, especially people who know me because I ain't like that,” he said. "But the thing is, I was asked the question, do you think you've got justice? Well, no, I don't.

"They're still quite happy breathing and getting three meals a day. Apparently she's having horse riding lessons."

Nathan Matthews (L) and Shauna Hoare (R)
Nathan Matthews (L) and Shauna Hoare (R) (PA)

"If they were going to hang him, I would pull the lever, so no one else would have to carry that guilt."

Sixteen-year-old Becky was killed in February last year, after Matthews and Hore, let themselves into Becky's house in Crown Hill, Bristol.

She suffered more than 40 injuries before being suffocated by Matthews, then was bundled into the couple's car.

Her body was dismembered in their home in Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol, and was discovered by police in a nearby garden shed.

In November, former TA soldier Matthews was convicted of Becky's murder and jailed for a minimum of 33 years.

Hoare was jailed for 17 years after being found guilty of Becky's manslaughter. Both were convicted of conspiring to kidnap her.

Mr Galsworthy said “pranks” carried out by Matthews were, in retrospect, “warning signs”.

“In hindsight there was a lot of what we call warnings now. I’ve been beating myself up for over a year now for not taking grasp of the situation. I just didn’t see it for what it was.”

“He kept jumping out on her, we used to think that was pranking. But then my sister Sarah said, ‘No he’s just letting her know he can get her any time he wants’.

“When she told me that it was like being hit by a hammer… Perhaps I’m naive. ”

Mr Galsworthy, who has a "recurring dream" that he is witnessing the murder, said he is still waiting for answers from Matthews.

The killer has maintained his step-sister's death was a kidnap-gone-wrong.

Mr Galsworthy said: "I want the truth, that's all we ever wanted.

"Not this useless stack of lies that he's tried to come up with."

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