Mother showed 'no interest' in Shannon's welfare

The mother of abducted nine-year-old Shannon Matthews did not ask about the welfare of her daughter when police told her she had been found but made a “glib comment” about an officer’s mobile ringtone, a court heard today.

Karen Matthews made no inquiries about her daughter’s welfare as she was driven to a police station after Shannon was found following a 24-day search.

Detective Constable Mark Cruddace told a jury at Leeds Crown Court that he attended Moorside Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, with a colleague to break the news of Shannon’s discovery.

The officer said there was a “buzz of excitement in the house” and he got the impression “people knew before we got there”.

Julian Goose QC, prosecuting, asked him if there was “any time when she asked about the welfare of her daughter or where she had been found”.

The officer replied: “No, she didn’t.”

Goose asked him if anything else happened as they travelled in the police car. Cruddace said: “A bit of a strange incident where my colleague’s phone rang.

“When the phone rang, Karen just commented on the fact she liked the ring tone.”

The officer agreed it was a “glib comment”.

Later, Detective Constable Alexander Grummitt said he was surprised Matthews asked about his ring tone.

He said his personal mobile phone rang in the car as he was taking her to the police station with Cruddace and she said she liked the tune – the Gnarls Barclay hit 'Crazy'.

Grummitt told the jury: “My own personal mobile phone’s got the ring tone of Gnarls Barclay’s 'Crazy'.

“Karen said: ’I like that ring tone. You must either Bluetooth or text it to me.”

The officer said Matthews had not asked anything about her daughter’s welfare during the 30 minute car journey.

Asked what his reaction was, he told the court: “We’ve just found your daughter and you ask about the ring tone on the phone. In my opinion it just wasn’t right.”

Yesterday, the jury was told Shannon was drugged and restrained with a strap tied to a roof beam after her mother hatched a plan to make £50,000 (€62,700) from her faked kidnap.

The jury was told Shannon was kept locked in a flat for 24 days by Michael Donovan, who police believe used an elasticated strap with a noose on the end to tether her when he went out.

Prosecutors said Donovan drugged the nine-year-old with Temazepam and travel sickness tablets and gave her a list of “rules”.

All the time Shannon’s mother, kept up a “wicked and dishonest lie” – knowing all the time where her daughter was as police conducted a massive search operation which eventually cost almost £3.2m €3.8m), the jury was told.

Matthews, 33, and Donovan, 40, deny kidnapping Shannon, who is now 10, and falsely imprisoning her. They also deny perverting the course of justice.

The court heard the pair hatched the plan to kidnap Shannon in Dewsbury in February to get hold of reward money which was offered by a newspaper.

The court was told Shannon went missing on February 19 after a swimming trip at school. It is alleged Donovan kept Shannon prisoner at his first-floor flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr – a mile from her home in Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor.