By Courtnay Baird
Both Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan have been found guilty of kidnap at Leeds Crown Court.
Karen Matthews was charged with kidnapping her own daughter, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice at her trial. The man who owned the house Shannon was found in, Michael Donovan, was also found guilty of the same.
Shannon Matthews who was nine years old at the time, went missing from her home in West Yorkshire for 24 days in February this year. Karen Matthews convinced police that her daughter had been kidnapped and a search costing 3.2 million was launched.
After more than three weeks had passed Shannon was found in Michael Donovan’s flat hiding under a bed. It was unveiled that the whole plan had been hatched by Shannon’s mother to get reward money.
I would be interested to know what will happen to Shannon Matthews now – is there anywhere in Britain she could be brought up with any kind of anonymity?