Craig Meehan denies owning indecent images
Monday, 08 Sep 2008 14:09
The former partner of Shannon Matthews' mother goes on trial today
The former partner of Shannon Matthews' mother has claimed that indecent images of children found on his home computer had nothing to do with him.
Craig Meehan, 22 went on trial at Dewsbury magistrates' court today charged with possessing indecent images of children.
He is accused of possessing 134 indecent images of children, allegedly found on two computers at the home he used to share with Karen Matthews in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire.
Ms Matthews is currently in police custody charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice in relation to the disappearance of her daughter.
Shannon went missing for 24 days in February and was eventually discovered in the home of Mr Meehan's uncle, Michael Donovan.
Mr Donovan is also in police custody and will go on trial alongside Ms Matthews in November.
Prosecutor David Holderness told the court today that 16 of the images found on Mr Meehan's computers were classified as level four in a scale of one to five, where five is the most serious.
He said that the 22-year-old had tried to blame others for the images, stating: "There are substantial amounts of material which, when put together, provide a convincing and overwhelming picture that it was Mr Meehan who was the person who downloaded the relevant materials."
Mr Meehan denies all the charges and the trial continues.