Shannon 'totally betrayed' by mother
Updated on 04 December 2008
Shannon Matthews was "totally betrayed" by her mother who is found guilty of kidnapping her, along with co-defendant Michael Donovan.
The senior investigating officer of the case Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan said:
"The one person that Shannon should have been able to rely on more than any other person is her own mother.
"Shannon has been totally betrayed by her own mother. Karen's interest and motivation throughout this has not been for Shannon or anybody else, it's been for her and getting her hands on £50,000,"
He said it was still unclear what the real truth was behind the kidnapping as Matthews had told five different versions of what happened to her daughter.
"Although she has started to give away elements of the truth, even now I don't think we have got the full truth from her."
"She has given her version of events ... I just don't think she will ever tell anybody the truth because of the seriousness of what has happened
'Guilty of all counts'
The mother of Shannon Matthews is guilty today of kidnapping her own daughter, along with co-defendant Michael Donovan.
Karen Matthews, 33, was also convicted of false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
Her co-defendant Michael Donovan, 40, was found guilty of the same offences. Donovan was known to Shannon as Uncle Mickey.
Shannon, nine at the time of her kidnapping, was found in Donovan's flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, 24 days after she went missing in February.
Mr Justice McCombe warned the pair that they face a "substantial custodial sentence".
He said earlier that he would adjourn sentencing for reports. No application was made for bail and the two defendents were led away.
During the three-week trial, the court heard that Shannon, now 10, went missing on February 19 as she walked home from school.
After a massive search operation by West Yorkshire Police costing almost £3.2 million, she was found by police in Donovan's flat, less than a mile from her home, on March 14. The search was one of the largest ever conducted by the West Yorkshire force.
The prosecution told the jury that Donovan kept Shannon drugged and imprisoned in his flat as part of a plan he and Matthews hatched to claim £50,000 in reward money.
Matthews denied the abduction and blamed the crime on her former partner, Craig Meehan, and other members of his family.
She said she was "disgusted" by allegations that she was involved in her daughter's kidnap.
Donovan, who is the uncle of Mr Meehan, claims he was scared of Matthews and agreed to take Shannon only because he feared for his life.
