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.

Kirklees Council confirmed it would now be doing its “utmost” to publish the report in full after the release of today’s executive summary.

Shannon, now 11, 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 (€60,000) reward offered by a national newspaper.

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

Kirklees Council announced a serious case review after Matthews and Donovan were convicted in December 2008.