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Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
Shannon Matthews detective reveals moment ‘bewildered' girl was found
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video An investigator searching for Shannon Matthews has described the moment the nine-year-old girl was found tied-up and hidden by her own mum as part of a fake abduction plot. Missing Shannon had seemingly vanished on her walk home from swimming in February 2008, with her mum Karen Matthews crying on camera appealing for the safe return of her daughter. After 24 days of searching, investigators found her bound and heavily drugged in a drawer in a grotty council flat just a few miles from where she had supposedly disappeared from. Mick Donovan had kidnapped the schoolgirl with Karen in an attempt to claim a £50,000 reward for her return, even trying to extort money from the Find Madeleine McCann fund. Detective Constable Nick Townsend was part of the team of detectives who spent sleepless nights trying to locate missing Shannon. But recalling the moment he saw her for the first time, he revealed the team feared she was close to being seriously harmed by Donovan. He said: 'When the lady who lived in the flat below heard the tiny footsteps of a toddler coming from Donovan's flat, I said we need to get in here. 'We made a determined effort to rouse him to get him to come to the door, but he wouldn't answer. 'My fear was then that he knew that we were here. Could he be doing any harm to whoever was in there or to himself, knowing the game was up?' With the help of the Operational Support Unit, officers were able to force their way into the council flat, finding the 'bewildered' schoolgirl beneath Donovan's bed. Speaking on documentary The Hunt for Shannon Matthews, Nick added: 'You could hear a lot of banging and crashing, smashing of woodwork. 'I went up the staircase and as I got to the top, my colleague appeared from inside the flat carrying Shannon in his arms saying, 'I found her, I found her, under the bed'.' Karen was jailed for eight years, while Shannon was given a new identity and removed from her family's care. Dovonan was also jailed for eight years and was disowned by his family following the plot, and died in prison in April 2024 reportedly not having a single visitor in the last few months of his life. He had insisted he was 'only looking after' the terrified schoolgirl that people 'would understand' why he kidnapped her if he was allowed to share his side of the story. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Babysitter who sent disabled children to paedophile boyfriend sobs at 100-year sentence MORE: Teen with 'no moral compass' rapped about car crash that killed unborn baby MORE: Russia-linked DHL warehouse fire in Birmingham left Amazon container '100% destroyed'
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Shannon Matthews detective reveals Karen's jaw-dropping question after arrest
EXCLUSIVE: Detective Constable Nick Townsend, who found Shannon Matthews, has revealed the chilling words Karen Matthews said to him just days after her 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
Daily Record
4 days ago
- Daily Record
Neighbour shocked by Karen Matthews' comments prior to Shannon's kidnapping revelation
A new two-part documentary looking at the Shannon Matthews kidnapping case is available on Prime Video. When Shannon Matthews, a nine year old lass, went missing on 19 February 2008, the residents of Dewsbury's impoverished Moorside Estate showered her mum, Karen, with an outpouring of support. Her friend Petra Jamieson recalls a poignant moment during a visit to a local chippy with Karen: "We went into a fish and chip shop, and she got fish and chips for the family. "The person behind the counter says, 'They are on us. We're really sorry about what's gone with your daughter.'" Karen's shocking response was, according to Petra, "'I should get rid of one of my kids more often.' At the time, I just slapped her on the side of the arm... 'why would you say that?'" This chilling revelation is part of a new two-part Prime Video documentary, The Hunt for Shannon Matthews, set to be available in the UK and Ireland on Sunday, August 17. It also delves into the life of Shannon Matthews' mum Karen while she was in prison, reports the Mirror. The documentary unravels the astonishing tale of how, after Shannon vanished for 24 days, it emerged that Karen had actually conspired to stage the kidnapping with her boyfriend's uncle, Michael Donovan. Petra, one of Karen's neighbours featured in the documentary, remembers watching Karen pleading outside her West Yorkshire home for the return of her "beautiful princess daughter" Shannon. Living just a couple of doors down from Karen, their children attended the same school and the mums had developed a close friendship. With the typical generosity of residents living on the council estate, Petra stood by Karen throughout the 24 days that Shannon remained missing. And when she was discovered, the neighbourhood rejoiced. Petra, who was present at Karen's house when officers arrived to inform her Shannon had been located, recalls: "We were all bouncing about! We didn't know what would happen." The sole disappointment was that Shannon, who required police questioning, couldn't return home immediately. Remembering the youngster, Petra reflects: "Shannon was a pleasant, lovely girl to have around. Never any bother. She would play in the garden with her siblings. She never wandered far." A fortnight after Shannon was discovered, a relieved Petra went with Karen to the neighbourhood chippy to collect food for her family, where the sympathetic proprietor declared the meal was complimentary. Like other estate dwellers, the chip shop owner had been hoping Shannon - who purportedly didn't arrive home after being collected from school following a swimming lesson - would be located unharmed. For Petra, as a mother herself, she recognised what Karen was enduring represented every parent's greatest fear. And she was delighted when Shannon was found alive. She reflects: "It meant everything. No parent wants to think that their child is not going to come home." However, Petra couldn't dismiss the insensitivity of Karen's peculiar remark after receiving a complimentary chippy meal. She had already felt uneasy about how much Karen "liked the attention" of appearing in the media. She reveals: "She liked the fact that she could go into town, and everyone recognised her. People had sympathy for her and compassion, giving her hugs." However, she never suspected her friend of planning her own child's abduction and was heartbroken when she uncovered the truth. "She (Karen) didn't have a lot. But from my perspective her kids were clothed, fed and looked after. She was just like me, a mum." Petra shares, her voice filled with emotion. Even now, 16 years on, the betrayal still stings. Once a firm defender of Karen and her partner Craig Meehan, Petra even featured in a 2008 Channel 4 Cutting Edge documentary Shannon Matthews: The Family's Story, which offered an intimate look at a family grieving their missing daughter. Petra is seen reading a newspaper article, where Karen's parents claimed her children were physically assaulted by Craig. Outraged on Karen's behalf, she said: "I really hope I don't see your mum." Tragically, she had been entirely deceived by Karen and Craig, who were arrested 19 days after Shannon was found - a horrifying turn in an already shocking tale. Alongside a large-scale search for Shannon led by the Moorside community, West Yorkshire Police conducted an extensive search for the child, costing £3.2 million, involving more than 200 officers and three-quarters of all the UK's specially-trained police dogs. After ten days of no new developments, some media outlets began to delve into Shannon's background and her "disordered family life" with Karen, then 32, and her stepdad Craig, 22. However, these reports were labelled as "classist," drawing comparisons to the sympathetic coverage of Madeleine McCann's doctor parents Gerry and Kate McCann, nine months earlier, when she was abducted while they were dining at a restaurant. As time went on, it became increasingly hard for those who knew Karen to overlook her peculiar behaviour, given what had allegedly happened to Shannon. In the Prime Video documentary, local journalist Richard Edwards recounts a strange moment when he visited Karen's house to interview her about the search. To his surprise, she jumped out from behind the living room door, laughing, as if playing hide and seek. "I thought probably she was painting on a smile just pretending all was okay for the other kids at home. Maybe she was just pretending all that was okay for them," Petra comments on the incident. On March 14, 2008, Shannon was found alive, hidden in the base of a divan bed at the flat of Craig's uncle, Michael Donovan, 39, who was arrested on the spot and charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment. Tests on strands of Shannon's hair revealed she had been drugged with sedatives. Further tests indicated she may have been drugged for as long as 20 months before she was discovered. An elasticated strap with a noose on the end was discovered at the flat, which may have been used as a method of restraint. With it around her waist, Shannon would have been able to use the toilet and turn the TV on, but she would not have been able to leave the flat. During his arrest, Donovan - who died from cancer in April 2024, aged 54 - had shouted: "Get Karen down here! We'd got a plan. We're sharing the money - £50,000!" Karen vehemently denied the accusations. But another friend, Natalie Brown, was becoming suspicious. Eventually, Natalie - along with fellow Moorside resident and Chair of the Moorside residents and tenants association, Julie Bushby, who had put her life on hold to lead the community search - confronted her directly. Karen confessed she'd been deceiving everyone the whole time. She had known Shannon was with Donovan and had fabricated lies to friends, neighbours and the press - accepting everyone's kindness and concern. Karen was arrested and tried with Donovan at Leeds Crown Court. There, she withdrew her confession and told police five different versions of events. Karen and Donovan were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. Each was jailed for eight years. Shannon was placed in emergency social services care and later given a new identity. Petra says: "At the trial I still didn't want to believe that Karen had anything to do it "Even though she admitted it, I wanted to see if she would sit and admit it in the court. At the end, she still couldn't be honest. She lied and lied and lied. Is that because she thought she could get away it? Who knows?". Karen was freed in April 2012 after completing half her sentence. Despite grappling with her mate's betrayal, Julie questions whether everything Karen did stemmed from vile images on her partner Craig's computer. "Did Karen know? Maybe that's why she did what she did. To keep Craig away from her," she says. "Can we ever get the truth? I don't think we ever will."
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Daily Mirror
'I was neighbours with Karen Matthews and one casual comment horrified me'
When Karen Matthews reported her nine-year-old Shannon Matthews missing after failing to return home after a swimming lesson, her neighbour Petra Jamieson supported her throughout the ordeal until casual remark left her horrified When nine-year-old Shannon Matthews was reported missing on 19 February 2008, her neighbours on Dewsbury's deprived Moorside Estate had only kindness to give. But they gave it to her mum, Karen, by the bucketload. Recalling a visit to a local chip shop with Karen, her friend Petra Jamieson says: "We went into a fish and chip shop, and she got fish and chips for the family. 'The person behind the counter says, 'They are on us. We're really sorry about what's going with your daughter.' "She (Karen) looked at me and just said she should 'get rid of one of my kids more often' At the time, I just slapped her on the side of the arm… 'why would you say that?'" Petra's chilling revelation is made in a new two-part Prime Video documentary The Hunt for Shannon Matthews available in The UK and Ireland on Sunday August 17. It comes as Shannon Matthews' mum Karen's life in prison is revealed. It tells the incredible story of how, after Shannon disappeared for 24 days, it was revealed that Karen had actually plotted the kidnap in conjunction with her boyfriend's uncle, Michael Donovan. Petra is one of Karen's neighbours who is featured in the documentary, and recalls watching her stand outside her West Yorkshire home, pleading for the return of her "beautiful princess daughter" Shannon. Living just two doors down from Karen, her children went to the same school and the mums had become close friends. With the customary kindness of folk living on the council estate, Petra supported Karen throughout the 24 days that Shannon was missing. And when she was found, the community celebrated. Petra, who was at Karen's house when police arrived to tell her Shannon had been found, says: "We were all bouncing about! "We didn't know what would happen." The one sadness was that Shannon, who had to be interviewed by police, couldn't come home. Recalling how she remembered the little girl, Petra says: 'Shannon was a pleasant, lovely girl to have around. Never any bother. She would play in the garden with her siblings. She never wandered far. " A couple of weeks after Shannon was found, a relieved Petra accompanied Karen to the local chippy to get food for her family and the concerned owner said the meal was free. Like the rest of the estate's residents, the chippy owner had been willing Shannon - who allegedly failed to return home after being dropped off at school from a swimming lesson - to be found safe and sound. For Petra, as a fellow mum, she knew what Karen was going through was every parent's worst nightmare. And she was thrilled when Shannon was found alive. She says: 'It meant everything. No parent wants to think that their child is not going to come home.' But Petra couldn't shake off the callousness of Karen's strange comment after being given a free chippy tea. She had already felt uncomfortable about how much Karen "liked the attention" of being in the press. She says: "She liked the fact that she could go into town, and everyone recognised her. People had sympathy for her and compassion, giving her hugs.' Still, she had never for a moment suspected her pal of plotting her own child's kidnap and was devastated when she finally discovered the truth. 'She (Karen) didn't have a lot, but she made sure her children were watered and fed - I thought she was just like me," says Petra, her voice breaking with emotion. Even now, 16 years later, the betrayal still hurts. Once the staunchest defender of Karen and her partner Craig Meehan, Petra had even appeared on a 2008 Channel 4 Cutting Edge documentary Shannon Matthews: The Family's Story filmed as a fly on the wall look at a grieving family missing their daughter. Petra was seen reading a newspaper story, in which Karen's parents said her children were physically assaulted by Craig. Furious on Karen's behalf, she said: "I really hope I don't see your mum.' Sadly, she had been completely hoodwinked by Karen and Craig, who were arrested 19 days after Shannon was found - a terrible twist to an already shocking story. Alongside a massive search for Shannon mounted by the Moorside community, West Yorkshire Police ran an intensive hunt for the child, costing £3.2 million, as more than 200 officers and three-quarters of all the UK's specially-trained police dogs were involved. After the first ten days with no new developments, some media outlets began reporting on Shannon's background and her 'disordered family life' with Karen, then 32, and her stepdad Craig, 22 But the reports were dubbed 'classist,' compared to the sympathetic coverage of Madeleine McCann's doctor parents Gerry and Kate McCann, nine months earlier, when she was abducted while they were enjoying a restaurant meal. As time passed, however, it became increasingly difficult for those who mixed with Karen to ignore her odd behaviour, in light of what had allegedly happened to Shannon. In the Prime Video documentary, local journalist Richard Edwards describes a bizarre moment when he went inside Karen's house to interview her about the search. Laughing, she jumped out from behind the living room door, as if she was playing hide and seek. 'I thought probably she was painting on a smile just pretending all was okay for the other kids at home. Maybe she was just pretending all that was okay for them," says Petra, commenting on what happened.. On March 14, 2008, Shannon was found alive, concealed in the base of a divan bed at the flat of Craig's uncle, Michael Donovan, 39, who was arrested at the scene, was charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment. Strands of Shannon's hair, when tested, showed she had been drugged with sedatives. Further tests then showed she had been drugged possibly for as long as 20 months before she was found. An elasticated strap with a noose on the end was found at the flat, which may have been used as a method of restraint. With it around her waist, Shannon would have been able to use the toilet and turn the TV on, but she would not have been able to leave the flat. During his arrest, Donovan - who died from cancer in April 2024, aged 54 - had shouted: 'Get Karen down here! We'd got a plan. We're sharing the money - £50,000!' Karen strenuously denied the accusations. But another friend, Natalie Brown, was growing suspicious. Eventually, Natalie - along with fellow Moorside resident and Chair of the Moorside residents and tenants association, Julie Bushby, who had put her life on hold to lead the community search - questioned her directly. Karen admitted she'd been lying the whole time. She had known Shannon was with Donovan and had lied through her teeth to friends, neighbours and the press - accepting everyone's kindness and concern. Karen was arrested and tried with Donovan at Leeds Crown Court. There, she retracted her confession and told police five different versions of events. Karen and Donovan were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. Each was jailed for eight years. Shannon was placed in emergency social services care and later given a new identity. Petra says: "At the trial I still didn't want to believe that Karen had anything to do it "Even though she admitted it, I wanted to see if she would sit and admit it in the court. At the end, she still couldn't be honest. She lied and lied and lied. Is that because she thought she could get away it? Who knows?" Karen was released in April 2012 after serving half her sentence. Despite struggling with her friend's deception, Julie wonders whether everything Karen did was because of vile images on her partner Craig's computer. "Did Karen know? Maybe that's why she did what she did. To keep Craig away from her,' she says. "Can we ever get the truth? I don't think we ever will."
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Daily Mirror
How to watch new Shannon Matthews documentary 17 years on from fake kidnap scandal
The kidnapping of Shannon Matthews rocked the UK in 2008, and now a new documentary following the fake abduction plot will arrive on one of the world's biggest streaming services The kidnapping of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews dominated the headlines in February 2008 and created mass panic across the country. On a Tuesday evening, stay-at-home mum Karen Matthews reported her nine-year-old daughter missing to Dewsbury police, and West Yorkshire officials launched what became the biggest investigation in that area since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. After three weeks and three days, the search, which was also spearheaded by residents of the Dewsbury Moor estate, came to an end when Shannon was found alive in a flat in Batley Carr, just mere miles from her home. She was found at the home of Michael Donovan, the uncle of her mother's then-partner Craig Meehan, who was convicted of possessing 49 indecent images of children in 2008 but was not involved in the kidnapping of Shannon and was never charged with any offences relating to the incident. In a shock twist, it turned out that Karen, now 49, had plotted the entire thing from the start to in an attempt to claim £50,000 in reward money that had been offered by national newspapers. It emerged that she arranged for Donovan, who died in 2024 at the age of 54, to collect Shannon after school and keep her at his flat until she saw fit. It comes after Bonnie Blue is hit with hundreds of Ofcom complaints as viewers slam 'sick' documentary. Karen, who had seven children by five different fathers, was found guilty of found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice sentenced to eight years in prison along with her accomplice, although by the time she was released early in 2012, he was already out. Shannon, who had been drugged and tied up in the small flat, was immediately placed under police protection once she had been found and was given lifelong anonymity with a new High Court ruling. Now, the events of the entire plot have been re-explored in the The Hunt for Shannon Matthews, which viewers can watch on Amazon Prime Video from Sunday 17th August. In the years since the bizarre case shocked Britain, the story has been told through several books and documentaries. In 2017, it was adapted into the BBC series The Moorside, starring Game of Thrones actress Gemma Whelan as the woman who was dubbed the nation's worst mum, and Sheridan Smith as Julie Bushy, the kindly neighbour who headed up the communal efforts to find Shannon, completely unaware that it was all a hoax. It was also the subject of a satirical musical, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022, and that was made into a film which was also released by Amazon's Prime Video service. But TV insiders have insisted that this time round, the new documentary, which features new interviews with former friends and neighbours of Karen Matthews, will offer up a fresh perspective on the whole story, especially because such time has passed since the events took place. A source told The Sun: "The original case dumbfounded the nation when it happened and it took years before many could truly grasp what had happened. 'Shows like 2017, The Moorside which starred Sheridan Smith , tried to shed some light on the events but it continues to be a subject that stirs up an array of emotions. The creators of the new documentary hope that the passing of time and the benefit of distance might help lend some perspective on the story." It is the third in a series of recent true crime documentaries released by the streaming giant, the first of which was The Wimbledon Killer, which looked back on the murder of mum Rachel Nickell in the early 1990s, and the second was Surviving The Tunisia Beach Attack, which examined the shooting of 38 holidaymakers, more than a decade on from when the atrocity took place.
