Becky Watts killer Shauna Hoare appeals against convictions and sentence

The killer of teenager Becky Watts is appealing against her convictions and sentence.

Shauna Hoare, 21, was jailed for a minimum of 17 years for the manslaughter of 16-year-old Becky on February 19.

Her boyfriend Nathan Matthews, 28, was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years in jail for murdering Becky, his stepsister.

Bristol Crown Court heard the pair targeted Becky due to their dislike of her and a shared sexual interest in petite teenage girls.

They took tape, handcuffs and a stun gun to her home in Crown Hill, Bristol, and let themselves in when they knew Becky was alone.

Becky, dubbed "Bristol's angel" by her family, suffered more than 40 injuries before she was smothered to death by porn-obsessed Matthews.

Former TA soldier Matthews, along with Hoare, dismembered Becky with an £80 circular saw in the bathroom of their home in Cotton Mill Lane.

Matthews was found guilty of murder by a jury of 10 women and one man, while Hoare was convicted of Becky's manslaughter.

Both were convicted of conspiracy to kidnap, perverting the course of justice, preventing Becky's lawful burial and possessing two stun guns.

Trial judge Mr Justice Dingemans was in tears as he spoke of the "immense burden" suffered by Becky's family as he jailed Hoare and Matthews.

Today, a court spokesman confirmed that Hoare had lodged an appeal against all of her convictions and her sentence.

There is no information to suggest that Matthews is appealing against his conviction or sentence, the spokesman added.

Following the sentencing of Matthews and Hoare, on November 13, Mr Justice Dingemans paid tribute to Becky's family with tears in his eyes.

"The evidence proves, I am sure, that Nathan Matthews had developed a fixation with having sex with petite teenage girls, and Shauna Hoare had been persuaded to participate in this fixation," he said.

"Becky could be described as a petite teenage girl."

Jurors heard how pornography found on a laptop and phones owned by the couple revealed a shared sexual interest in teenagers and threesomes.

Sinister Facebook messages in which the couple discussed kidnapping schoolgirls for sex revealed the motive behind Becky's death, the judge said.

"I am sure, on the evidence that was adduced at the trial, that the planned kidnap of Becky was for a sexual purpose," he added.

"The false suggestion given by both of them during the trial, namely that these texts were just banter or pandering to tastes, shows how much their understanding of where proper boundaries of conduct began and ended had become corrupted and warped."

Matthews will be 61 before he can be considered for parole, with the judge noting that he "might never be released".

As he began the process of cutting Becky's body into eight pieces, Hoare texted him "lol" as she sat with his worried mother Anjie Galsworthy - Becky's stepmother.

The couple also listened to a parody of a Disney Frozen song, entitled Do You Want To Hide A Body, while Becky's remains lay in their bath.

Matthews and Hoare told police officers and Becky's family they had heard her leave home on February 19.

"Their deceit of the family was particularly cruel and unusual and the family's sense of betrayal by Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare is both understandable and justified," the judge added.

"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."

Victim impact statements were read to the court on behalf of Becky's father, Darren Galsworthy, and her mother Tanya Watts.

Mr Galsworthy said: "These family members sat in our home knowing what they had done and watched my very public descent into madness and despair.

"They said nothing and carried on with the pretence of helping us and showed no emotion at all."

Ms Watts spoke of seeing her daughter in the mortuary, with bandages wrapped around her body to hide where she had been dismembered.

"I often hear myself talking about Becky and asking questions about her death but it is like I am talking about someone else, not my baby girl. It is surreal.

"But the actual reality is those people who were involved in Becky's murder, dismemberment and concealment have left us with a lifetime of emptiness, continuing nightmares of her final moments and a grave to visit."

Karl Demetrius, 30, and Jaydene Parsons, 23, who admitted assisting Matthews to hide Becky's body parts in their shed, will be sentenced in February.