Shannon's mother condemned as 'pure evil'

The mother of Shannon Matthews was condemned today as "pure evil" and told she faces a substantial jail sentence after being found guilty of kidnapping her own daughter.

Karen Matthews, 33, conspired with her partner's uncle Michael Donovan, 40, to keep her nine-year-old daughter drugged and imprisoned for 24 days in a desperate plan to claim £50,000 in reward money.

Related articles

• Shannon 'totally betrayed' by mother's financial motives
• Mother of seven portrayed as sink estate slob
• Key dates in search for Shannon
• Detective 'felt doubts about Matthews' story'
• Detectives cried after finding Shannon
• Search the news archive for more stories

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan, the officer who led the investigation, said Matthews had "totally betrayed" her daughter and said her motivation for kidnapping her was purely financial.

He condemned her as "pure evil" and said the "manipulative" woman started deceiving those closest to her from the very moment the youngster was kidnapped on February 19.

"It's difficult to understand what type of mother would subject her own daughter to such a wicked and evil crime," he added.

The detective was speaking after Matthews and Donovan were found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of the kidnap and false imprisonment of Shannon and perverting the course of justice.

The pair showed no emotion as the jury of seven men and five women took six hours to unanimously convict them following a three-week trial.

They will be sentenced at a date to be fixed after the trial judge asked for reports. Mr Justice McCombe warned them they faced a "substantial custodial sentence".

Shannon, now 10, went missing on February 19 as she walked home from school.

West Yorkshire Police launched a massive search operation costing almost £3.2 million - one of the largest ever conducted by the force.

On March 14 Shannon was discovered in the base of a divan bed in Donovan's flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, less than a mile away from her home in Dewsbury Moor.

It was revealed that Donovan had picked the youngster up in his car and kept her imprisoned in his flat as part of a plan he and Matthews hatched to claim a £50,000 reward offered by a national newspaper.

Police believe the pair may have been influenced by the coverage of Madeleine McCann's disappearance, which was a high-profile news story in the months before Shannon went missing.

After she was recovered, Shannon was found to have traces of the "potent hypnotic" drug temazepam and travel-sickness medication Melcozine in her system.

It was believed that both Matthews and Donovan gave the little girl the drugs in an attempt to keep her subdued and drowsy and that she could have taken them for up to 20 months before her abduction.

Donovan also forced Shannon to keep to a strict list of rules, including keeping quiet and not going near the windows, which was found by police in the flat.

Officers also discovered an elasticated strap in the loft of the property which was believed to have been used to tether Shannon when Donovan went out.

Matthews told five different versions of what happened to Shannon, ranging from being a distraught mother whose daughter had gone missing to blaming the crime on her former partner, Craig Meehan, and other members of his family.

Donovan, who has convictions for arson, shoplifting and criminal damage, claimed he was terrified of Matthews and said he was threatened that he would be killed if he didn't comply with her plan.

It emerged in court Donovan abducted one of his own daughters after he became involved in a custody battle with his former wife.

He took the girl to Blackpool but when the case came to court the matter was dropped.

Social services bosses today pledged to examine all contacts they had with the Matthews family prior to Shannon's abduction.

In a statement Alison O'Sullivan, Director for Children and Young People at Kirklees Council, said: "Very important issues concerning the children, the actions and plans of this local authority past, present and proposed will be scrutinised carefully."

She went on: "We are acutely aware that the difficult issues surrounding child protection and the promotion of child welfare by Local Authorities are rightly the subject of huge public interest."

Local MP Shahid Malik condemned the pair, saying: "This is one of the cruellest deceptions of modern times and the cruellest betrayals of a daughter one can imagine."

Malcolm Taylor, from the West Yorkshire CPS, described Shannon's kidnap as a "cynical plot" and added: "This was an abuse of public trust, public services, the public purse and, worst of all, Matthews' own daughter for personal gain."

Outside court friends and neighbours of Matthews rallied to her support despite the convictions.

Petra Jamieson said she was shocked that Matthews showed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered.

She said: "She didn't seem bothered. All us lot have been here all the way through it, but she didn't seem to give a s**t.

"I don't think it has hit home yet. Maybe it will when she comes to be sentenced."

Friend Julie Bushby said she still "loved her to bits" and would visit Matthews in prison.

She said: "I'm not bothered by the verdicts. It's Karen who's let us down. She's not shown any emotion. The tears she cried were crocodile tears."