Social services cleared over Shannon abduction

The abduction of Yorkshire schoolgirl Shannon Matthews could not have been foreseen by social services and other agencies involved with her family, a serious case review in the UK concluded today.

The Kirkless Safeguarding Children Board review found there was “little leeway” for social services and other agencies to intervene before Shannon, then aged nine, was abducted from her home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, by family members in February 2008.