Report into Shannon Matthews abduction to be published

A review of the role social services and other agencies played in the life of abducted English schoolgirl Shannon Matthews before her kidnap with the help of her own mother is to be published.

Shannon was nine when she disappeared from her home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, in February 2008.

After a massive police operation, she was discovered 24 days later at her stepfather's uncle's home, less than a mile away.

Last year her mother Karen Matthews, then 33, was jailed for eight years for her part in what a judge described as a "truly despicable" plot with Michael Donovan, in whose flat the youngster was found. Donovan, then 40, was also jailed for eight years.

Shannon was found in Donovan's flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, in the base of a bed. The youngster had been drugged and forced to adhere to a strict list of rules while held captive.

Prosecutors said Donovan kept Shannon imprisoned as part of a plan he and Matthews hatched to claim a £50,000 (€60,148) reward offered by a national newspaper.

The trial judge said it was doubtful Matthews and Donovan could have planned and carried out the kidnap without other people.

The court was told the ordeal left Shannon "disturbed and traumatised" and suffering from nightmares.

The officer who led the inquiry, Det Supt Andy Brennan, speaking after the conviction, said Matthews had "totally betrayed" her daughter and condemned her as "pure evil".

Kirklees Council announced a serious case review after Matthews and Donovan were convicted in December 2008. The serious case review will be published on Wednesday at a hotel in Huddersfield.