Karen Matthews and Julie Bushby blasted after documentary Shannon Matthews: The Mother’s Story

Shannon Matthews

by Siam Goorwich |
Updated on

Channel 5 aired a documentary called Shannon Matthews: The Mother's Story, exploring the motives of Karen Matthews, the mum who kidnapped her own daughter

The case of Shannon Matthews - the nine-year-old girl who was reported missing in 2008 after her mother Karen and her partner Craig Meehan faked a kidnapping for financial gain - sent shockwaves through the UK.

The case was so controversial and, well, bizarre, that it was even recently turned into a BBC drama, The Moorside, starring Sheridan Smith.

Shannon Matthews
Shannon Matthews was nine when she went missing (Credit: REX) ©REX

Quite understandably, since the plot was uncovered, Karen Matthews - who fooled many at the time with TV appearances pleading for the safe return of her daughter - has been labelled cruel, evil, and even, "Britain's worst mum".

However a documentary airred on Channel 5 last night - Shannon Matthews: The Mother's Story aimed to explore Karen Matthews' motives, and see if she herself was maybe exploited and vulnerable.

But gauging from the reaction on social media, the documentary didn't go down too well.

Karen Matthews
There was no sympathy for Karen Matthews (Credit: Getty) ©Getty

It turns out, no one had sympathy for Karen Matthews AT ALL...

And it wasn't long before that other infamous missing child case was mentioned...

Shannon Matthews
Julie Bushby also came under fire (Credit: Channel 5) ©Channel 5

But it wasn't just Karen Matthews and The McCanns who came under fire. Julie Bushby - Karen Matthews' former friend, who was played by Sheridan Smith in The Moorside and has since made a bit of a career out of telling her side of the story - was also criticised by viewers...

Did you watch Shannon Matthews: The Mother's Story? What did you think? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter

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