Shannon Matthews detective reveals Karen's jaw-dropping question after arrest
Hero retired Detective Constable Nick Townsend, one of the main investigators in the Shannon Matthews case, has revealed her mother Karen Matthews' startling words to him just days after her arrest.
Nine-year-old Shannon Matthews was reported missing on 19 February 2008, sparking a huge police investigation and community search in Dewsbury's Moorside Estate in West Yorkshire for almost a month.
Three weeks into the investigation, Nick received a tip off which became a break through moment. He raced to the home of Michael Donovan in Lidgate Gardens, where himself and his colleague Paul Kettlewell discovered Shannon hiding under a bed with her captor. It comes as Shannon Matthews' mum Karen's life in prison is revealed.
It later transpired that Karen had planned the kidnapping with Donovan, who was the uncle of her former partner d Craig Meehan to make money from the publicity.
In new Prime Video documentary, The Hunt for Shannon Matthews, a number of people revealed they had picked up on Karen's "strange behaviours". During the documentary, journalist Richard Edwards who was covering the investigation recalled Karen "tickling him" when her daughter was still missing.
It appears her 'strange behaviours' didn't stop after Karen was exposed for her wrongdoings. Detective Constable Nick Townsend recalled one startling comment she made days after her arrest, in April 2008, which showed she had "no remorse" for what she had done.
Asked on whether Karen ever showed any remorse, Nick told the Mirror: "No, she didn't show any remorse whatsoever."
Police arrested Donovan on the scene, and charged him with kidnapping and false imprisonment, and following a police investigation, Karen was also arrested. On 8 April 2008 she was charged with child neglect and perverting the course of justice.
Just days after her arrest, Nick recalled taking Karen back to New Hall Prison at Flockton after a series of interviews. He revealed Karen barely said anything during the journey, but the words she did say still stay with him to this day.
"The only thing that she said during the whole journey was, 'Can you get me back before 6 o'clock?,'" Nick recalled. He then asked Karen why she was in such a rush to get back to the prison, and her response left him in shock.
"She said, 'Well it's chilli con carne tonight, that's my favourite,'" Nick told us. He then continued: "She never once asked about her daughter, she showed no remorse. It was all about her, and that's quite a startling thing to say really. She didn't question about how Shannon was."
Karen and Michael were later sentenced to eight years in jail, but were released after four.
At the end of the documentary, we see Nick in tears as he reflected on the investigation.
"I'm proud of being part of a team that was highly professional in the way that we conducted that investigation. I'm proud of the outcome," he said.
"The thought of what would've happened had we not have pursued that line of inquiry on that particular morning.... We were heroes for a day but we'd have been chumps for eternity if we'd have walked away."
Expanding further, Nick told us that the case was one of the most emotional in his long serving career as a police officer. "It was the most emotional I've ever felt on an inquiry," he said. "At that moment in particular, when we discovered Shannon in the flat.
"There have been other emotional times with detective crime, but that one took so much out of everybody."
Nick, who said he could only describe the feeling of finding Shannon as "jubilant," said the new Prime Video documentary is more "in depth" than the others he's done.
"I hope it's also come across in the documentary how much the community on Dewsbury Moor pulled together, and how amazing they really were. I hope the amount of effort from all parties has come across."
The Hunt for Shannon Matthews will be available on Prime Video in The UK & Ireland on August 17
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