Shannon Matthews: Mother guilty
Shannon went missing for 24 days in February
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Thursday, 04, Dec 2008 12:48
The mother of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews and another man have been found guilty of staging the ten-year-old's kidnap in order to claim reward money.
At Leeds crown court today Karen Matthews, 33, and Michael Donovan, 40, were convicted of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
Shannon, then nine, spent 24 days missing in February before being found in a property in Dewsbury Moor.
Police claim that half of the UK's specialist search dogs were involved in the hunt for Shannon, plus some 250 officers, making it West Yorkshire police's largest operation since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper.
She was eventually found hidden in the base of a divan bed in a property belonging to Donovan in Batley Carr, a mile away from the Matthews family home.
During the trial the court were shown pictures and images of the flat where Shannon was held captive for over three weeks, including images of an elastic strap tethered to the ceiling of Donovan's flat.
The prosecution claimed that the strap could have been used to tether Shannon while she was held in the flat preventing her from escaping.
Donovan held the schoolgirl in his flat as part of a plan with Matthews to claim the £50,000 reward money.
The court was told that when the reward fund reached £50,000 Donovan would release Shannon into Dewsbury market before claiming to have 'found' the then nine-year-old himself.
Speaking outside the court this afternoon, Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan, the senior investigating officer with West Yorkshire Police, described Matthews as "pure evil".
He said it was difficult to understand how a mother could have put their child through the trauma Shannon experienced.
He went on to describe Matthews as a "manipulative individual" with a "remarkable ability to lie", adding that Donovan was also an "accomplished liar".
Det Sec Brennan said the investigation to find Shannon was "extremely complex and challenging", suggesting that it had had a profound effect on the officers working on the case who cried "tears of joy" upon the schoolgirl's discovery.
He also praised the residents of Dewsbury Moor for their help in the investigation and said West Yorkshire police was grateful for the support they had provided.
Deputy Chief Constable David Crompton also paid tribute to the police officers and members of staff, saying: "Working under the pressure of huge public and media scrutiny, the force showed that West Yorkshire police has the expertise, dedication and determination to tackle the most unexpected and challenging events."
Malcolm Taylor, a Crown Prosecution Service representative, said that Matthews and Donovan had showed "total disregard" for the rest of Shannon's family and the public.
"They staged the disappearance of Matthews' own daughter and planned to somehow benefit financially from the huge wave of public sympathy that would someone follow," he said.
"In the words of the prosecuting counsel she 'lied, lied and lied again'".