The 47-year-old, who represented herself as she “has no faith in the legal system”, told Justice Rachel Dunningham she was appealing her convictions and her sentence.
Watts claimed she was at work or in prison when some of the offending happened, despite providing the court with no alibi or evidence.
She said she had only entered guilty pleas to the offending as she was given “poor advice” by her lawyer. She went on to claim she had written him a letter but he “ignored her”.
“I’ve had four lawyers in the last two years. I have no faith in the justice system,” she said.
Justice Dunningham said because Watts’ previous lawyer wasn’t present to respond to her allegations, she was unable to accept them.
“There’s no evidence about what your lawyer told you and no evidence to suggest you had an alibi to prove you shouldn’t have been convicted.
“I know that sounds tough but that’s the reality,” Justice Dunningham said.
In her decision today, Justice Dunningham said Watts’ appeal had “no prospect of success” and it was refused.
“Indeed, it appears to be a continuation of Ms Watts’ predilection for deception and for deflecting blame for her behaviour onto others.”
Watts had previously been convicted of charges of making a false statement, breaching a protection order, and perverting the course of justice, relating to a former partner.
The charges she is currently serving a prison sentence for relate to her targeting a woman who has links to her ex-partner.
Watts claimed to be pregnant - and then the mother to a child she had fostered out - as well as making allegations by false email, Snapchat, and Facebook accounts.
She produced a false birth certificate and sent false letters containing fake confessions.
She complained to the police 55 times that she was the one being harassed, after the break-up of a casual relationship. Those allegations were false.
She also used false online accounts to accuse the victim of being a drug user, computer hacker, and child abuser.
Between January and August 2021, Watts sent a letter addressed to the woman, in the name of a fellow inmate at Christchurch Women’s Prison. The letter said Watts had evidence against the woman on her “burner phone” and threatened to go to the police if she did not admit offending.
In September 2021, police received a letter sent from Christchurch Women’s Prison. They approached the purported letter writer - an inmate - who showed them other letters that had been “returned to sender”.
One letter, purported to be signed by the woman who alleges harassment by Watts, said she had supplied methamphetamine, and gained access to Watts’ social media accounts, driver’s licence, and medical records.
The second letter, purportedly signed by the same woman, admitted similar offending and said, “I wanted to drown Nicola in the river”.
After her release from prison, Watts put in the Crimestoppers report, again in the name of the other woman, and gave her email address. The report requested that the woman herself be charged with all the offences that Watts was facing.
As she was jailed last year the sentencing judge said he had “never seen the like of” her web of lies.
Watts also admitted causing a collision with a cyclist at an intersection in Linwood. The rider broke both her arms and her bicycle - her main means of transport - was wrecked. She was disqualified from driving for nine months for that.
Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star.
