On 19 February 2008, Shannon Louise Matthews (born 9 September 1998), a nine-year-old girl, was reported missing in
Dewsbury,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, England. The search for her became a major
missing person police operation which was compared to the
disappearance of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person who disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007, at the age of 3. '' The Daily Telegraph'' described the disappear ...
.
Shannon was found alive and well on 14 March 2008 at a
Batley Carr house belonging to 39-year-old Michael Donovan. Donovan is the uncle of Craig Meehan, the boyfriend of the kidnapped girl's mother, Karen Matthews.
The kidnapping was planned by Karen and Donovan to generate money from the publicity. Donovan—also known as Paul Drake—was to have eventually "found" Shannon, taken her to a police station and claimed the reward money, which would be split between Donovan and the child's mother. Donovan was charged with
kidnapping and
false imprisonment
False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...
.
Karen was charged with
child neglect and
perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Stat ...
on 8 April 2008. Their joint trial at
Leeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court, more accurately the Crown Court at Leeds, is a venue of the Crown Court in West Yorkshire, England. The buildings are situated on Westgate in Leeds city centre, adjacent to Leeds magistrates courts.
Notable cases As Leeds As ...
commenced on 11 November 2008
[ and concluded on 4 December with both defendants found guilty.] They were both given eight-year prison sentences.
Meehan was convicted of possessing child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ...
which was discovered on his computer during the investigation, but had nothing to do with the kidnapping.
Disappearance
Investigation
Nine-year-old Shannon Matthews was seen at 15:10 on 19 February 2008, outside her school, Westmoor Junior School, Dewsbury Moor
Dewsbury Moor is a district of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies to the west of the Dewsbury town centre. The population is around 5,650. Crime rates are higher than the national avera ...
, after a visit to the Dewsbury Sports Centre swimming pool for a swimming lesson. The school was about half a mile from her home. At 18:48 Karen Matthews rang the police to report her daughter missing after she had not returned home from school. West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers.
History
West Yor ...
started the search which eventually involved more than 200 officers.
The investigation into her disappearance was led by Detective Superintendent
Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...
Andy Brennan. West Yorkshire Police questioned 1,500 motorists and searched 3,000 houses. By 5March, more than 250 officers and 60 detectives were involved in the investigation, or about 10% of the West Yorkshire force's operational strength. It became the largest police investigation in West Yorkshire since the Yorkshire Ripper
Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...
case 30 years earlier. Of 27 specialist victim recovery dogs in the UK, 16 were involved in the search.
Publicity
'' The Sun'' newspaper offered a reward of £20,000 for information leading to Shannon's safe return. It was increased to £50,000 on 10 March, by which time she had been missing for 20 days. A business in Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
– nine miles from Dewsbury – offered £5,000.
West Yorkshire Police created a web page, 'Missing Shannon Matthews Appeal', and on 7 March, released a photograph of Shannon on the website. The police released the recording of the 999 call
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance. Countries and territories using the number include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Eswatini, Gha ...
made by Karen reporting the child's disappearance. An official website, 'Help Us Find Shannon', including the 'Shannon Matthews Appeal', was launched on 11 March. Both websites were removed after Shannon was found.
Media reaction
A comparison was drawn between publicity given to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person who disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007, at the age of 3. '' The Daily Telegraph'' described the disappear ...
and the much lower level of publicity for Shannon. Roy Greenslade
Roy Greenslade (born 31 December 1946) is a British author and freelance journalist, and a former professor of journalism. He worked in the UK newspaper industry from the 1960s onwards. As a media commentator, he wrote a daily blog from 2006 to ...
, writing for ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' blog, explained, "Overarching everything is social class" but added that Shannon's disappearance in the UK made a difference. ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' took the same line saying, "Kate and Gerry McCann had a lot: they were a couple of nice middle-class doctors on holiday in an upmarket resort... Karen Matthews is not as elegant, nor as eloquent".
''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' noted that the local community had pulled together but that the hunt appeared less newsworthy than the most minor developments in the search for McCann. The ''Brisbane Times
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
'' said that Karen Matthews and Kate McCann represented two sides of the social class coin in Britain. ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' speculated that had Shannon been part of a middle-class family, in which articulate parents were conversant with the mechanics of mobilising a slick public awareness campaign, then more public attention would have been focused on the effort to find her.
On 7 March, Karen said on '' GMTV'' that she was certain that her 22-year-old boyfriend Craig Meehan was not involved in the kidnapping and he "would not hurt anybody". Meehan was defended by Shannon's father, Leon Rose. Karen and Meehan, in an interview on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
's ''Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' programme on 12 March, were questioned about suggestions by her parents that Meehan had been violent towards Shannon, and on Karen having seven children by at least five fathers (two of the children were registered as having unknown fathers). Commenting on the interview, ''The Independent'' said that the case had developed a cruel overtone and that such questions went far beyond necessity and lifted the lid on an uncomfortable hypocrisy in British society.
Discovery
West Yorkshire Police found Shannon alive at 12:30 on 14 March 2008, 24 days after she went missing. She was concealed in the base of a divan bed in a flat
Flat or flats may refer to:
Architecture
* Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries
Arts and entertainment
* Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch
* Flat (soldier), ...
in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr. Michael Donovan, the 39-year-old tenant of the flat, was arrested at the scene.
Shannon was placed under police protection and cared for by the local social services department. The police exercised powers under section 46 of the Children Act 1989
The Children Act 1989 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which allocates duties to local authorities, courts, parents, and other agencies in the United Kingdom, to ensure children are safeguarded and their welfare is promoted. It centres on th ...
which allows a child to remain subject to police protection for 72 hours. She ceased to be subject to police protection on 17 March. Subsequently, she remained in the care of Kirklees Family Services on a voluntary basis. On 15 March, the police reported that Shannon had begun to recover after her ordeal. Specially trained officers questioned her to establish what had happened. The questioning, which lasted for several weeks, took place in ten-minute sessions at a special children's suite resembling a classroom.
Pre-trial events
Donovan was charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment
False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...
and committing acts intended to pervert the course of justice on 17 March 2008. He appeared before Dewsbury Magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
s on 18 March, and was remanded in custody. He appeared at Leeds Crown Court, via a video link from his prison cell, on 26 March. The provisional trial date was fixed for 11 November. He made a suicide attempt on 6 April.
Meehan was arrested on 2 April, on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, after police had examined computers in the home. He was remanded in custody by Dewsbury Magistrates, at a hearing on 3 April charged with 11 offences of possessing indecent images of children. On 18 April, Meehan pleaded not guilty, and elected to be tried by magistrate rather than by jury. On 16 September 2008, he was convicted by Dewsbury Magistrates of 11 counts of possessing child pornography, relating to 49 images of level one, two, three and four found on his computer after it was seized from the house he lived in with Karen, on Moorside Road. On the same day, he was sentenced to 20 weeks imprisonment but was released as he had spent longer on remand than the length of the sentence.
Karen was arrested on 6 April on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice. She was charged with child neglect and perverting the course of justice on 8 April. At a hearing on 5 September 2008, she was also charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment
False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...
.
Amanda Hyett, Meehan's sister, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender on 4 April 2008. Meehan's mother Alice Meehan, sister of Michael Donovan, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, on 4 April. Hyett and Alice Meehan were released on police bail on 4 April but were rearrested with Meehan's sister Caroline on 10 April and held on suspicion of perverting the course of justice before being released on bail. Hyett and Alice Meehan were later released without charge, although Hyett was jailed the following year in an unrelated conviction for benefit fraud.
On 8 April, the police announced they were investigating approaches to the Madeleine's Fund for money to assist the search for Shannon.
Karen Matthews was remanded to face trial alongside Donovan in November 2008.
Trial and convictions
In November 2008, the trial heard evidence that Shannon had been drugged to subdue her whilst held. ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that "The jury was told Shannon was drugged and restrained with a strap tied to a roof beam after her mother hatched a plan to make £50,000 from her faked kidnap."
On 13 November, Detective Constable Mark Cruddace and Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan gave evidence at Leeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court, more accurately the Crown Court at Leeds, is a venue of the Crown Court in West Yorkshire, England. The buildings are situated on Westgate in Leeds city centre, adjacent to Leeds magistrates courts.
Notable cases As Leeds As ...
. A forensic toxicologist told the court that tests on Shannon's hair indicated she had been given temazepam
Temazepam (sold under the brand names Restoril among others) is a medication of the benzodiazepine class which is generally used to treat severe or debilitating insomnia. It is taken by mouth. Temazepam is rapidly absorbed, and significant hyp ...
for up to 20 months before her disappearance.
Donovan claimed that Karen Matthews had asked him to look after her daughter for several days and that they would make money from newspaper rewards. He told the court that she had threatened him with violence.
On 27 November, Karen Matthews gave evidence. Sobbing throughout, she denied having anything to do with her daughter's disappearance, claiming that Meehan told her to 'take the blame' for what had happened. She said she did so because she was scared of him. In cross-examination, Julian Goose QC said that she had told police a total of five versions of the story and accused her of "telling lie after lie, after lie".
On 4 December 2008, Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. The plan had been for Donovan to release Shannon at Dewsbury Market, drive around the corner to "discover" her then take her to a police station and claim the £50,000 reward. This would be split between Donovan and Karen Matthews.
On 23 January 2009, Donovan and Karen Matthews were sentenced to eight years in prison by Mr Justice McCombe.
Karen Matthews was released in April 2012 after serving half her sentence. Donovan had already been released. She reportedly moved to the south of the country and became a born-again Christian.
During the trial, the prosecution revealed that Shannon Matthews had been suffering from nightmares after the event and needed regular psychotherapy counselling. Shannon was later given a new identity and placed with a foster family.
Post-trial media reaction
In the aftermath of the trial, revelations about the life that Shannon Matthews and her siblings had endured with their mother were widely highlighted and politicised by the media. The "welfare state" was heavily scrutinised. ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', described a "dysfunctional family where children equalled benefits", a claim that was supported by Shannon's aunt, Julie Poskitt.
Writer and political activist Owen Jones
Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a British newspaper columnist, political commentator, journalist, author, and left-wing activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'' and '' Tribune.'' He has two ...
later proposed in his 2011 book '' Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class'' that for both the Conservative Party and those parts of the media traditionally supportive of its agenda, "Karen Matthews had become a convenient political prop"; that the case was cynically used to garner public support for the party's subsequent programme of austerity and cut-backs to spending on welfare.
Serious case review
On 16 June 2010, a Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board report found that social services could not have anticipated the abduction. It stated: "The Serious Case Review
A serious case review (SCR) in England is held after a child or vulnerable adult dies or is seriously injured under circumstances where abuse or neglect are thought to have been involved. Its purpose is to learn lessons to help prevent future simi ...
concluded that the historical and current knowledge available to professionals involved with this family could not have led them to anticipate the third child's abduction from her home or her mother's involvement in this. The only way to have avoided her abduction was through her prior removal from home under a Care Order and there is no evidence to suggest that this was warranted on the basis of professional knowledge about this case."
In the media
A film of the search for Shannon, and her homecoming, was shown in an episode of the Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
documentary series '' Cutting Edge'' on 20 March 2008.
A BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
'' Panorama'' special: ''Shannon: The Mother of All Lies'' was broadcast on the night of the trial verdict, (4 December 2008), about the disappearance and investigation, featuring the testimony of friends of the family and the police. The special was watched by 5.6 million viewers.
On 18 May 2009, an ITV programme, ''Tears, Lies and Videotape'', documented cases of people who manipulated the media for personal attention. The Shannon Matthews case was the main focus of the show.
In 2010, English dark comedy act Kunt and The Gang
Kunt and the Gang is a British dark musical comedian from Basildon, Essex, who started performing in 2003. He is also known for founding the spin-off project The Kunts, whose songs entitled " Boris Johnson Is a Fucking Cunt" and " Boris Johnso ...
wrote a musical based on the case and released it on CD that same year. In 2022, Tuppence Ha'penny Productions worked with Kunt to put a live version of the musical at the Edinburgh Fringe.
'' The Moorside'', a two-part dramatisation of the case, aired on 7 and 14 February 2017 on BBC One. The drama focuses on the publicity campaign preceding Shannon's discovery and her mother's involvement in the scheme. Episode one was watched by 9.93 million viewers with the second watched by 10.23 million viewers.
On 28 February 2017, Channel 5 broadcast a documentary entitled ''Shannon Matthews: What Happened Next'' that followed the key people in the investigation nine years later.
On 11 February 2021, Channel 5 broadcast another documentary entitled ''The Disappearance of Shannon Matthews''.
In August 2022, ''Shannon Matthews: The Musical'' premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
On 8 December 2022, Channel 5 aired the documentary ''The Man Who Took Shannon Matthews'', which focused on Michael Donovan which included a look at his background prior to the kidnapping.
See also
* List of kidnappings
*List of solved missing person cases
Lists of solved missing person cases include:
* List of solved missing person cases: pre-2000
* List of solved missing person cases: post-2000
See also
* List of kidnappings
* List of murder convictions without a body
* List of people who di ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Shannon
2000s missing person cases
2008 crimes in the United Kingdom
2008 in England
2000s in West Yorkshire
Dewsbury
Formerly missing people
Kidnapped English children
Kidnappings in England
Missing person cases in England
Incidents of violence against girls