Shannon jury still out

The UK jury trying two people accused of kidnapping Shannon Matthews was considering its verdicts for a second day today.

Shannon’s mother Karen Matthews, 33, and her co-accused Michael Donovan, 40, are charged with the kidnap and false imprisonment of the young girl and perverting the course of justice. Both deny all the charges.

During the three-week trial at Leeds Crown Court, the jury of seven men and five women heard how Shannon, who was nine at the time, went missing from her home in West Yorkshire, in February.

The prosecution alleges Donovan kept her drugged and imprisoned in his flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, for 24 days as part of a plan he and Matthews hatched to claim £50,000 (€57,590) 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 abduction.

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.