Shannon court case
- 00:01:35
- ITN
Shannon court case
Shannon Matthews was drugged and tied up during her captivity, a jury in the trial of her mother and another man has heard. Shannon's mother, 33-year-old Karen Matthews, and 40-year-old Michael Donovan are charged with kidnapping the schoolgirl, who is now ten. Outlining their case, the prosecution claims Matthews embarked on a "dishonest and wicked plan" with Donovan, the uncle of her ex-partner Craig Meehan, when she called 999 to report her daughter missing. Prosecutor Julian Goose QC said: "Shannon was an innocent victim of the plan. She was kidnapped and falsely imprisoned in the flat where Donovan lived. She was drugged to subdue her during the period of her captivity." The jury at Leeds Crown Court heard Donovan probably used an elasticated strap with a noose on the end to restrain her when he went out of his first-floor flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr - a mile from Shannon's home in Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor. And prosecutors said he drugged the nine-year-old with Temazepam and travel sickness tablets while imposing "ruled control" with a list of dos and don'ts. The court was told that the rules, written down in a document, were found on top of a television, and stated: :: You must not go near the windows; :: You must not make any noise and bang your feet; :: You must not do anything without me being there; :: Keep the TV volume low - up to volume eight. Mr Goose added the "overwhelming likelihood is that the reason for the plan was dishonestly to obtain the reward money offered by the press". The court heard that at its height the money was up to £50,000. He told the jury: "Karen Matthews made impassioned public pleas for the recovery of her daughter, some of those you will see from television recordings shown on national television. "Karen Matthews also gave deliberately misleading and false leads for investigation by the police." He said Donovan kept Shannon "drugged, subdued and hidden from the public" and bought newspapers which described the extent of the investigation. "He was watching the public search as the reward money grew," Mr Goose said. He said "other victims" in the case were the friends, neighbours and residents of the Dewsbury Moor estate who helped look for the youngster. Mr Goose said the public followed the day-by-day events until Shannon was eventually found, "only then to discover that it had all been a lie, a trick and deliberately false complaint". She was found at the flat 24 days after going missing. Donovan was arrested the same day. Matthews, of Moorside Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and Donovan, formerly known as Paul Drake, have pleaded not guilty to Kidnap and false imprisonment and have also denied perverting the course of justice. The trial is expected to last three weeks.
ITN | November 12, 2008
