Tears as Shannon's mother gives evidence
- 00:00:54
- ITN
Tears as Shannon's mother gives evidence
The mother of Shannon Matthews burst into tears within minutes of taking the stand as she gave evidence at her trial. Karen Matthews began sobbing in the witness box as she was asked questions by her barrister Frances Oldham QC at Leeds Crown Court about whether she had anything to do with Shannon's disappearance. "I'm just disgusted because I haven't had nothing to do with it," she told the jury. Matthews, 33, of Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, and Michael Donovan, 40, deny kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice in connection with Shannon's disappearance in February. The prosecution allege Donovan kept Shannon drugged and imprisoned in his flat as part of a plan he and Matthews had to claim £50,000 in reward money. Matthews said she did not plan the kidnap of her daughter, and denied she threatened to have Donovan killed or have his car burnt out. She said she first found out where Shannon was when she saw news reports following the schoolgirl's discovery. Matthews was then asked a series of questions about her partner at the time of Shannon's disappearance, Craig Meehan. She told the jury Meehan was violent towards her and abusive to her children, with the exception of Shannon. The jurors were played the 999 call made by Matthews to police on the evening of February 19. They were also shown the first tearful television appeal made by Matthews the next night. She denied she was play-acting during both of these occasions. Matthews agreed she lied to police in an interview on March 18 when she told detectives she had never considered leaving Meehan. She said: "I was too scared to leave him. He told me if I left him he would tell people I was an unfit mother and have my children taken away from me." Asked why she did not tell the truth, she said: "I was just scared of him." Matthews said Craig told her to "take the blame for Shannon" because she was a female with no convictions and that she would get off lightly.
ITN | November 27, 2008
