SHANNON MATTHEWS 9 - Dewsbury, Yorkshire (UK) - 19/02/08

MERLYNSAM

Sunday Mirror

16/03/2008

By Simon Wright And Nikhita Mahajan

EXCLUSIVE MIRACLE OF SHANNON

Mick Donovan kept Shannon Matthews locked up while he played bingo

Suspect shut her up in a room while he went out to buy cans of strong lager He was sharing his home with a prostitute.. but couldn't manage sex

The loner who snatched Shannon Matthews was last night described as a "disgraceful father" who was recently living with a prostitute.

Oddball Mick Donovan, 39, was yesterday also revealed to have kept Shannon locked up in a room of his squalid flat while he went out to play bingo.

And he casually strolled to his local off-licence every day to stock up on lager while the nine-year-old was hidden away on her own.

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http://tinyurl.com/364wfj

MERLYNSAM

Sunday Mirror

16/03/2008

By Kelly Jenkins

Shannon Matthews' grandparents distraught she's going back to mum

EXCLUSIVE MIRACLE OF SHANNON GRANDPARENTS DESPAIR AT THOUGHT OF REUNION

The grandparents of Shannon Matthews wept with despair last night on hearing she is to be reunited with her mother Karen.

While June and Gordon Matthews said it was "brilliant" that nine-year-old Shannon had been found safe and well, they say Karen, their own daughter, is UNFIT to be a mother - because of her live-in partner, Shannon's stepdad Craig Meehan.

And they revealed Shannon could remain separated from 32-year-old Karen for another SEVEN DAYS.

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http://tinyurl.com/38bn4u

HIPPY

Sky News

16/3/2008

Extra Time To Quiz Shannon Suspect

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1309455,00.html

PAM SUPPORTFROMIRELAND

* This is a huge article and well worth the read of what it is like for children in Shannon's neighbourhood.

Scotsman

16 March 2008

Shannon 'abduction' mystery

<snippet>

After wild celebrations at missing schoolgirl's discovery, MARC HORNE reports from Dewsbury, a town facing up to its demons

But now the party is over, and as the hangovers kick in, the residents of Dewsbury are left to puzzle over how the freckled schoolgirl was taken from them and how she came to be found in the base of a bed – alongside her alleged kidnapper – less than a mile away from her home.

(...)

"Our mams and dads are still in bed so we thought we would come down and start tidying up. It was crazy at school yesterday. The head teacher took us all in the assembly hall and told us that Shannon was safe.

"Everyone starting cheering, then a few of us starting crying. We never thought we would see her again."

Another youngster, a boy wearing diamond earrings and a shellsuit, pushes a broom alongside her. He looks around the area surrounding the Moorside Tenants and Residents Community Centre and sighs with a sadness way beyond his tender years.

In a bid to brighten up the surroundings, the council had painted bollards to resemble penguins and added in an incongruous roundabout.

The nearest takeaway advertises the speciality of the house: "kiddie's doner kebabs".

He asks where I am from and then enquires: "Do you have guns up in Scotland? We do here. They are all over the place. I don't like living here. I'm scared. I want to live somewhere else."

He stops sweeping and points to a lamp-post where he claims to have witnessed a brutal fight. Moorside Road, where Shannon lives with her mother Karen Matthews, is just a few minutes away.

A broken doll lies forlornly by the roadside. Loud techno music thumps from inside red-bricked houses. Many windows still sport posters featuring Shannon's gap-toothed smile. One has a crucifix stuck to the window pane. Another has a sign warning that it houses a Staffordshire bull terrier.

At about 10am, the adults start to emerge, many of them still in their nightclothes. The atmosphere is like the night after Hogmanay. A young man with a baseball cap and a tattoo on the back of his neck is finishing off his second lager of the day.

Outside Shannon's home, two police officers stand guard. The white net curtains of the semi-detached home remain firmly closed. Upstairs there is an England football flag alongside St George's Cross curtains.

A glimpse around the back of the red-brick home reveals little more. The area is littered with rusting bedsprings, empty petrol cans and discarded Disney video boxes. In the upstairs back window – clearly a children's room – a stuffed toy monkey clings tightly to multi-coloured curtains.

Back in the street, Petra Jamieson, best friend of Shannon's mother, lights a cigarette and shakes her head as she tries to come to terms with the events of the past few days and weeks.

The previous night she housed Shannon's brothers and sisters Tony, 11, Cameron, 5, and Courtney, 2, alongside her own four youngsters. With four adults there were 11 people staying in the tiny home.

(...)

Vicky Saunders, 28, a neighbour of Karen Matthews, tried and failed to shed more light on the matter. "Shannon certainly knew the man who she was found with, but I honestly don't know how she came to be with him. He is from the other side of the family and I know next to nothing about them."

But Saunders rejected the idea that Shannon was troubled. "She is a very happy little girl and used to come to mine for juice and a chat after school. It wouldn't be like her just to up and run away."

........... Then there is another telling glimpse into the reality of life for Shannon's family. The smiles disappear when it emerges no one knows the whereabouts of Shannon's 11-year-old half-brother Tony, who was being looked after by Jamieson and her family.

For a while the scene becomes tense and worry is written across faces. Police arrive at the scene.

Shortly afterwards, Tony emerges safe and sound, wearing his hoodie over his face to protect him from a phalanx of cameramen.

"He often goes wandering off," said one resident, who appeared perplexed by the brief panic that had gripped the street. "Tony likes to take off for a while but he always comes back. You don't have to worry about that one."

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http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Shannon-39abduction39-mystery.3882960.jp

PAM SUPPORTFROMIRELAND

Sky sources have just released Police are "cautiously optimistic" she has not been harmed.

We'll hope she hasn't but will have to wait and see still it seems.

MERLYNSAM

BBC News

16th March 2008

Shannon police given extra time

<snippet>

Yorkshire MEP Edward McMillan-Scott has said police should have carried out more checks on Shannon's family.

He also said if police had used a missing child alert like those used in other countries, known as an amber alert, Shannon would have been found sooner.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police defended the force.

He said: "We would like to make it clear that UK Police Forces currently have available the Child Rescue Alert scheme.

"This is designed for use in potential child abductions where a vehicle or partial vehicle details are known.

"As such its use would have been wholly inappropriate in this case and the suggestion it could have somehow speeded up Shannon's recovery is totally inaccurate."

The search operation was the force's biggest since the Yorkshire Ripper case.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/7299253.stm

MERLYNSAM

merlynsam wrote:Draft Letter to:

Sir Norman Bettison (Chief Constable)
West Yorkshire Police Headquarters
PO Box 9
Wakefield
WF1 3QP

Sunday, 16 March 2008



Dear Sir

<center>Shannon Matthews</center>

I am writing on behalf of the members of the Find Madeleine Forum who have been following the case of Shannon Matthews on a daily basis.

We would like to express our thanks to you and your dedicated team of police officers and detectives who worked tirelessly throughout the last 24 days to locate Shannon and recover her safely. The dedication, tenacity and professionalism of your team has resulted in a most successful outcome against all the odds.

West Yorkshire Police have clearly shown that the United Kingdom has one of the best police services in the world.

Please pass on our admiration and thanks to those involved in the recovery of Shannon.

Yours faithfully




on behalf of the Find Madeleine Forum
http://www.freeforums.in/phpbb/index.php?mforum=detectives

Sorry to bump my own post but I thought I should double-check with you all. Should I still send the letter on behalf of the forum to West Yorkshire police. I think there was a bit of a change of heart yesterday so I haven't sent it yet.

EWE 2


I'm quite happy about this Merly.

TEZZA

merlynsam wrote:

merlynsam wrote:Draft Letter to:

Sir Norman Bettison (Chief Constable)
West Yorkshire Police Headquarters
PO Box 9
Wakefield
WF1 3QP

Sunday, 16 March 2008



Dear Sir

<center>Shannon Matthews</center>

I am writing on behalf of the members of the Find Madeleine Forum who have been following the case of Shannon Matthews on a daily basis.

We would like to express our thanks to you and your dedicated team of police officers and detectives who worked tirelessly throughout the last 24 days to locate Shannon and recover her safely. The dedication, tenacity and professionalism of your team has resulted in a most successful outcome against all the odds.

West Yorkshire Police have clearly shown that the United Kingdom has one of the best police services in the world.

Please pass on our admiration and thanks to those involved in the recovery of Shannon.

Yours faithfully




on behalf of the Find Madeleine Forum
http://www.freeforums.in/phpbb/index.php?mforum=detectives

Sorry to bump my own post but I thought I should double-check with you all. Should I still send the letter on behalf of the forum to West Yorkshire police. I think there was a bit of a change of heart yesterday so I haven't sent it yet.

Go for it Merly.
I think mistakes may of been made, but the main thing is they rescued Shannon alive.

Please incluse our Url, so they can check we are a genuine forum.
http://www.freeforums.in/phpbb/index.php?mforum=detectives

HEIDISTAR

Hi all,

Thanks for all the news articles.

Please do go ahead and send the letter Merly, it's great and I think the Police worked extremely hard on this case. We don't know all the details of the investigation but it was very clear that they were doing everything possible to find her.

Thanks Merly.

MERLYNSAM


Thanks EWE and Heidi ...................it is just so difficult to know what to do when the police are coming in for criticism now. I suppose it was to be expected.

I am happy to send it for us - I just don't want to offend any members of the forum who might now think differently. I'll see what response I get today - I am going to collect my elderly visitor now so I'll log on after I have taken her home tonight.

MERLYNSAM

Okay Tezza (sorry I missed your response there for a minute) of course I will include our URL

Thanks for your help folks!

PAM SUPPORTFROMIRELAND

I'm for it Merly.

EWE 2

Perhaps we should just point out Merly that we are not the official Find Madeleine site as this has caused problems in the past. eg. You Tube. I realise that we will be including our url, but some people find this confusing because the name is similar.

BELLE

Go for it Merly, Looking at how the police formed and organised searches and the fact that they used half the amount of sniffer dog's supplied in the UK goes to show the determination they had in finding young Shannon, lets not forget the neighbour who alerted the police to the sounds of child's footsteps coming from the flat above her. It wasn't just the last day which will involk memories it's the whole search as a process. I will always remember seeing the police line with about 5 of the dogs with them and the determination of Shannon's natural Dad Leon, of searching for her, he was out everyday searching woods, roads, anywhere along the route she may have taken and he was the first to thank the police and the media and the public for their help. Karen and Craig may not have been seen to be out there searching in my opinion as they have all the other children to care for I would have thought, and the police may have advised them against going out too much as the police would do this for them.
I really don't know anything about the family, but I can imagine with so many children it has to be a hard but loving home in respects of gaining some order and fun too. The Social services will take into account Shannon's wishes and survey everything before allowing Shannon to go back home to her Mother. I hope that Leon gets more access to her and sees more of her as I have read that the last time he saw her was last summer.. But, again, everything will work for the benefit of Shannon and I hope she makes a full recovery and gets a chance to see her freinds her age asap rather than be around adults all the time, she needs 'kid time' I would think!

So, yep, Merly, write the letter, it shows we appreciate the police for what they do best - detective work and followng on tips from the public, which is a damn site better than the crimestoppers org do in my opinion.

SINBADTHESAILOR

I thought that the letter was well thought and out worded very well.

Thank you for all the news updates and info Merly, you're a star.

ann x

HIPPY

Sky News

16/3/2008

'I've Seen Shannon And She's Happy'

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1309455,00.html

merlynsam wrote:

merlynsam wrote:Draft Letter to:

Sir Norman Bettison (Chief Constable)
West Yorkshire Police Headquarters
PO Box 9
Wakefield
WF1 3QP

Sunday, 16 March 2008



Dear Sir

<center>Shannon Matthews</center>

I am writing on behalf of the members of the Find Madeleine Forum who have been following the case of Shannon Matthews on a daily basis.

We would like to express our thanks to you and your dedicated team of police officers and detectives who worked tirelessly throughout the last 24 days to locate Shannon and recover her safely. The dedication, tenacity and professionalism of your team has resulted in a most successful outcome against all the odds.

West Yorkshire Police have clearly shown that the United Kingdom has one of the best police services in the world.

Please pass on our admiration and thanks to those involved in the recovery of Shannon.

Yours faithfully




on behalf of the Find Madeleine Forum
http://www.freeforums.in/phpbb/index.php?mforum=detectives

Sorry to bump my own post but I thought I should double-check with you all. Should I still send the letter on behalf of the forum to West Yorkshire police. I think there was a bit of a change of heart yesterday so I haven't sent it yet.

I think you should send this letter to the West Yorkshire police force. You have summed up everything I feel! I for one have not had a change of heart about how they operated, I think they worked with whatever information that sounded credible to them at any given time over the past 3 weeks! We only have to look at Madeleine's case to see how many different leads and pieces of information that come in! So they had to prioritise the info they received and work from there! I have nothing but admiration for what they did and continue to do! They set out with one intention in mind, to find Shannon alive, and they saw that through to the end despite all the odds stacked against them!
And then we have the claim from the lady who found a towel ages ago and someone (may have been the same person, mind a bit blank on that at the moment)who saw Shannon at the end of the street from which she was eventually recovered on the day that she went missing, and only informed the police the day before she was found!

Thank you Merly for undertaking this! I am forever thankful for all you do!

HIPPY

The thing is with this case is the reward money - I imagine the police are being contacted by every Tom, Dick and Harry as to claiming this and that. People will be selling 'stories' to the gutter press too. :cry:

SMOKIE

Merly I would also go for it too. The British police are one of the best in the world I totally agree. In any cases I have followed over the last few years the police have always done a brilliant job. Yes they deserve praise when praise is due.

TINA*08

well done Merly! Well written and great job!

Definately send it, they deserve recongnition. We saw on the news how they didnt stop looking for shannon. They worked very hard. Shame they cant go out to PDL and take over with madeleines investigation!

x

MERLYNSAM

EWE2 wrote:Perhaps we should just point out Merly that we are not the official Find Madeleine site as this has caused problems in the past. eg. You Tube. I realise that we will be including our url, but some people find this confusing because the name is similar.

Thanks EWE

That is a good point.

The name of the forum can be changed - even at this stage.

Let's see what Tezza and Susikins say in response to your message.

ROLO

Yes, do send this letter Merly,
it's a brilliant idea.

TEZZA

merlynsam wrote:

EWE2 wrote:Perhaps we should just point out Merly that we are not the official Find Madeleine site as this has caused problems in the past. eg. You Tube. I realise that we will be including our url, but some people find this confusing because the name is similar.

Thanks EWE

That is a good point.

The name of the forum can be changed - even at this stage.

Let's see what Tezza and Susikins say in response to your message.

We have only come across the one problem where some people from a certain other forum tried adding 2 + 2 together and made 5.

If it became a major problem we could change the name but I think we are becoming established as the Find Madeleine forum and I would like to keep the name.

PAM SUPPORTFROMIRELAND

I would echo what Tezza said and established worldwide as often google and we are first hit for a missing child.