MOORSIDE PLOT
AGED just nine-years-old, Shannon Matthews was the victim of a vile kidnap plot orchestrated by her evil mother.
The schoolgirl was found alive - but only after it was revealed her mum Karen Matthews had drugged and tethered her to a bed in a bid to collect reward money.
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What happened to Shannon Matthews?
In 2008, Shannon Matthews - then aged nine - vanished on her way home from a swimming lesson in Dewesbury, West Yorkshire, sparking a huge £3.2M search.
Hundreds of neighbours and friends joined the mission with Shannon's mum Karen Matthews seen sobbing on TV as she pleaded for her daughter to come home.
I reached over, picked Shannon up and carried her out. I couldn't believe that I'd found her. We had Shannon and she was alive, I just couldn't believe it.
Det Con Paul Kettlewell who found Shannon
But in a shocking twist, it was revealed the monster was behind a plot that saw her daughter drugged and hidden in a divan bed in a callous bid to claim the £50K reward.
The discovery, made 24 days after Shannon vanished, stunned the nation.
More than 250 officers and 60 detectives were involved in the search with cops quizzing 1,500 motorists and searching 3,000 addresses before she was finally found in Michael Donovan’s grotty flat.
Channel 5's documentary The Disappearance Of Shannon Matthews shed more light on the case with interviews from many who knew Shannon, including her best friend Megan Aldridge.
Megan said: "That afternoon we were going to the swimming baths with school and as usual me and Shannon paired up together straightaway.
"When that was over we got on the coach back together. Once we got off the coach, something didn't seem right.
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“Cause her mum told her, her brother was picking her up that day after school but he never showed up.
"Cause normally if, like, she sends one of the kids to pick Shannon up from school, they’d be waiting outside the gates before we even got there.
"But there was no one there.
"That was literally, like, the last time I saw her."
Shannon Matthews' pal speaks of pain of losing best friend after abduction
When did Shannon go missing and how long for?
Shannon had last been seen outside her school, Westmoor Junior School, about half a mile from her home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorks, on February 19, 2008.
The young girl was missing for a total of 24 days before she was found by police.
During that time a massive investigation was launched to find her.
Neighbours of the family in The Moorside estate, which gave the 2017 BBC drama about the kidnapping its name, joined Karen and other family members in the search party.
Reward money was offered as part of the appeal to find the youngster until she was found alive on March 14, 2008.
How did police find Shannon?
The nine-year-old was found tethered and drugged inside the base of a double bed at relative Michael Donovan’s flat almost a month after she disappeared.
An elasticated strap with a noose on the end was found in his loft and may have been used as a method of restraint when he went out.
With it around her waist, Shannon would have been able to use the toilet and certain rooms, but not get out of the flat.
Police have since described the moment they found her hidden inside a divan bed, tied up with rope and drugged.
Det Con Paul Kettlewell told the BBC's Panorama: "I heard Shannon's voice from within this bedroom. I clearly heard her.
"Although I knew I'd heard her, I didn't know where she was. And then I became aware of movement.
"I reached over, picked Shannon up and carried her out. I couldn't believe that I'd found her. We had Shannon and she was alive, I just couldn't believe it."
It later emerged that Shannon's mum Karen Matthews, who was going out with Donovan’s nephew Craig Meehan at the time, had devised the elaborate plot in a bid to claim a £50K reward.
Shocking images were also released showing the conditions of the flat Shannon was held in for more than three weeks.
What happened to Shannon after she was found?
After Shannon was found alive she was put into police protection - and the High Court granted her lifelong anonymity.
She was given a new identity and went to live with a new family.
Now an adult in her twenties, Shannon will never speak publicly about her life or her ordeal due to a lifetime reporting restriction.
In 2018, her grandparents June and Gordon Matthews spoke to the Daily Mail and revealed they had seen a recent picture of their granddaughter.
They described her as “beautiful”.
Shannon’s childhood best friend Megan Aldridge was also never reunited with her pal.
Speaking in a Channel 5 documentary, she said: “It was upsetting and still is upsetting I’m not going to see her.
“I literally lost my best friend, like the only person I want to talk to and wanted to be around.”
She then added: “I genuinely hope she’s living the life she wanted now after everything she’s been through, she deserves to be happy.”
What happened after Shannon's fake kidnapping?
On December 4, 2008, mum-of-seven Karen and Donovan were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
Both were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to eight years behind bars.
Craig Meehan was jailed for 20 weeks after unrelated child sex abuse material was discovered on his computer.
Matthews, who has been dubbed Britain’s Most Hated Mum, was released from prison in April 2012 after serving half her sentence.
After the BBC drama The Moorside was aired, she was pictured working at a charity shop.
Matthews has received death threats and, according to the Daily Star, had a pot of scalding hot mushy peas poured on her head as she left her local takeaway.
The evil mother has since claimed she is not "Britain's worst mum" citing the fact that she didn't kill anybody and claimed "Baby P's mum and Maxine Carr don't get the abuse I do".
Timeline of the Shannon Matthews kidnap plot
A look at the events that unfolded following the disappearance of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews:
- February 19, 2008 - Shannon Matthews disappears and was last spotted outside Westmoor Junior School, Dewsbury.
- February 19, 2008 - Police announce that they have started a massive search involving more than 200 officers as concern grows for the missing girl.
- March 1, 2008 - Karen Matthews issues an emotional appeal for Shannon's return on the eve of Mother's Day.
- March 5, 2008 - Police release a recording of part of the 999 call Matthews made reporting Shannon missing.
- March 14, 2008 - Shannon is found alive and hidden in the base of a divan bed at a house at Michael Donovan's house in Batley Carr, West Yorkshire.
- April 9, 2008 - Karen Matthews is charged with child neglect and perverting the course of justice over her daughter's disappearance - new charges of Kidnap and false imprisonment were later added.
- December 4, 2008 - Matthews and Donovan are found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice and both sentenced to eight years behind bars.