Police arrest Shannon Matthews' mother: report Update #3

[Catty1]

HOW do some people get SO sick??? (And I don't mean the mom).

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/britain_missing_girl_police_mother

Mon Apr 7, 8:03 AM

LONDON (AFP) - Police investigating the disappearance of nine-year-old schoolgirl Shannon Matthews have arrested her mother, Karen Matthews, media reports said on Monday.

According to the BBC, Karen Matthews was arrested by detectives on Sunday evening on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

West Yorkshire police confirmed the arrest of a 32-year-old woman, but did not give her name.

There are suggestions that she may have withheld from police certain information about Shannon's whereabouts when she first went missing, the BBC said.

http://d.yimg.com/ca.yimg.com/p/080407/afp/icpsmvk49070408140209photo00.jpg?x=180&y=164&sig=fMyQp05lkZS97n3Zmzs7cw--

The news comes amid reports that the man being held for abducting the nine-year-old schoolgirl in February, had tried to take his own life in prison.

A report in Monday's Daily Mirror said Michael Donovan, the 39-year-old uncle of Shannon's step-father Craig Meehan, had slit his wrists at Leeds Prison where he is awaiting trial.

Prison officials refused to confirm specific details of the incident, which took place on Saturday night, telling the paper only that a prisoner was taken to hospital "following a case of serious self-harm".

Last week, Meehan -- Donovan's nephew and Shannon's stepfather -- was arrested and charged with 10 counts of possessing indecent images of children after police searched computers at the family home in Dewsbury near Leeds.

Meehan has lived with Matthews' mother Karen for around five years.

The schoolgirl went missing on February 19 after a school swimming trip in Dewsbury triggering a huge police investigation amid growing fears she might have been killed. She was found 24 days later hidden in the base of a bed in Batley Carr, a short distance from her home.

Her step-uncle has been charged with her kidnap and imprisonment, and his trial has been provisionally scheduled for November 11 at Leeds Crown Court.

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I thought from the beginning that they were hoping for a "Madeleine" type response.....

Can't say I blame Shannon for not wanting to go home - poor kid

[Catty1]

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/sunday/2008/04/20/shannon-matthews-mum-set-cops-on-lover-67-98487-20388612/


Karen has not spoken of kids
By Justin Penrose, Crime Correspondent
Karen Matthews is believed to be suffering from acute depression and dissociation in jail - where officers say she has not mentioned Shannon or any of her children.

The mum-of-seven, 32, is already on suicide watch after concern about her mental state. She is now thought to be suffering bouts of dissociation - a condition where people can forget parts of their life following a shock or trauma.

Officers at New Hall Prison, Wakefield, say Matthews hasn't yet mentioned the children - though she has reportedly tried to write notes to them.

One guard said: "She hasn't said a word about her kids. The only thing she seems remotely interested in is having a cigarette."

Matthews is in the segregation wing of the jail as prison chiefs fear she would be an immediate target for other inmates.

The officer added: "They would rip her apart."

Matthews appeared at Leeds Crown Court earlier this week via a video link from prison. The charge put to her alleged that she "repeatedly concealed" information about Shannon's whereabouts.

She will be at the court for a plea hearing on July 11 alongside Michael Donovan, 39, who is charged with Shannon's kidnapping and false imprisonment.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/shannon-matthews-case-five-fathers-one-mother-and-a-muddled-family-saga-808374.html

Yesterday, The Sun's headline read "Shannon Mum is benefit fiddler". She has seen her daughter only twice since she was found. On the second occasion, they had a three-hour meeting, at the end of which, according to Karen's parents, the little girl refused to come home, saying she preferred to be with the kitten that police had given her.

...There have been several serious allegations about Karen Matthews in connection with her daughter's disappearance. But amid the speculation, one solid fact is that she has had seven children by five different fathers. Indeed, she is said to have referred to two of the children as "twins", because they had the same father. The youngest of them was fathered by her present boyfriend, Craig Meehan, 22. In a now-famous interview on Radio 4's Today programme, Sarah Montague asked: "You've got seven children by six fathers?" "Five," said Karen, deadpan.