Detectives investigating the disappearance of Yorkshire schoolgirl Shannon
Matthews arrest her mother, following the release of two other members of her
stepfather's family on police bail pending further investigations.
DEWSBURY, WEST YORKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM (ITN)
Detectives investigating the disappearance of Yorkshire schoolgirl
Shannon Matthews have arrested her mother, police sources said on Monday
(April 7).
Karen Matthews, 32, was detained in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on Sunday
(April 6) on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.
The disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon in February sparked a huge
search before she was found safe and well 24 days later.
"Detectives investigating the alleged abduction of a nine-year-old
girl in Dewsbury in February 2008 have arrested a 32-year-old woman in
Dewsbury," a police statement said without elaborating.
Police sources later confirmed it was the mother.
Michael Donovan, the 39-year-old uncle of the girl's stepfather, has
been charged with abduction and imprisonment in the case.
He was taken to hospital on Sunday after a case of "serious self
harm", a Ministry of Justice source said, but has since returned to Leeds
prison.
Shannon Matthews was discovered in the base of a bed at a house about a
mile from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, after going missing following
a school swimming trip.
Two other members of her stepfather's family were released on police
bail on Saturday pending further investigations.
Media reports identified the pair as Amanda Hyett, 25, and Alice
Meehan, 48, the sister and mother of Matthews' stepfather Craig Meehan.
Hyett was held on suspicion of assisting an offender while Meehan was
arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Last Thursday, Craig Meehan, 22, was remanded in custody on charges of
possessing indecent images of children.
He has lived with Shannon Matthews' mother for about five years.
Shannon herself has not returned home since her rescue and remains in
the care of social services.
