Shannon mother 'like Jekyll and Hyde' during search

The mother of Shannon Matthews displayed a “Jekyll and Hyde” character during the 24-day search for her daughter – joking with friends behind closed doors but subdued with the police and press, a court in Britain heard today.

At one point Karen Matthews joked that she would like to have sex with one of the policemen guarding her house as hundreds of officers searched for nine-year-old Shannon, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Matthews, 33, would “act as if it was a normal day” with friends and relatives but would be quiet and withdrawn with the police and press, the jury was told.

Friend and neighbour Natalie Brown described Matthews as having a “Jekyll and Hyde character” during the 24-day search.

She said she observed Matthews’s behaviour when she and her partner Craig Meehan stayed with her for five days and generally as the search intensified.

Brown was asked to describe her behaviour by Julian Goose, prosecuting.

“She acted as if it was a normal day. She helped me clean the house and make cuppas, laughing and joking”, she told the jury.

She said when the news came on the television her mood changed and she became quiet and “glued to the TV”.

She said she also became quiet when the police were around.

“When the police and press were present she came over as all upset and withdrawn,” Brown told the jury.

She also recalled a “girly moment” at the residents’ association community house near Matthews’ home in Moorside Road, Dewsbury.

Brown said one of the women there commented on a police officer guarding 24 Moorside Road having a “cute bum”.

She was asked by Alan Conrad QC, for her co-accused Michael Donovan, whether “she (Matthews) said she wanted to have sex with him in a room upstairs”.

Brown replied: “Yes.”

But she also agreed this comment arose as they were all “laughing and joking” and added Matthews was acting “like a little child”.

Brown was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of Matthews and Donovan, 40.

Both are charged with kidnapping and falsely imprisoning Shannon as well as perverting the course of justice.

The charges relate to the 24-day disappearance of Shannon in February and March this year when the little girl was nine.

Earlier the jury heard how detectives who went to tell Matthews that her daughter had been found were surprised how she did not ask any questions about where she was discovered or how she was.

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

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

Dc Grummitt told the jury: “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.”

Mr Grummitt said he had gone to 24 Moorside Road to tell Matthews her daughter had been found.

Asked about her reaction, he said: “It was a very unusual reaction.”

He said Craig Meehan appeared to be quite emotional but he said of Matthews: “The strange thing was she didn’t ask me any questions like where did you find her.

“I got the feeling they’d already heard there had been developments.”

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 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.

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan, the senior investigating officer in the search for Shannon, said huge police resources were used.

He told the jury at one point he had 75 to 85 detectives working on the search for the nine-year-old.

By comparison, he said, a murder inquiry would normally have 10 to 15 detectives working on the case. A large management team was also set up as the hunt for Shannon intensified.

The search for Shannon meant detectives working on “live” inquiries, such as murder and stranger rapes, were re-deployed to help in the hunt for the youngster, he said.

Goose asked the detective if he had ever had any doubt this was a genuine missing person inquiry until Shannon was found.

He replied: “None at all”.

Brennan added: “It was quite unlike anything I’ve been involved with.”

Both defendants deny all the charges.