Staring down the TV camera, Karen Matthews’ lip trembled as she recalled the last words her nine-year-old daughter Shannon had uttered 13 days earlier, on 19 February 2008
“I love you, Mum,” Karen told the world, before breaking down.It was the first real sign of emotion in what had been a strangely detached press conference from the mother of a missing child.
Analysing her behaviour the following year, investigative psychologist Prof David Canter said, “There’s a certain distance in what she’s saying. She’s not really expressing how she feels.” In fact, it was further confirmation to the police that Karen knew far more than she was letting on.
Two weeks earlier, the public felt desperate for the young mother, whose daughter had vanished. According to local reporter Richard Edwards, Karen, 31, looked “every inch the mother who didn’t know what to do” as she pleaded for information and the safe return of her “beautiful princess daughter”.
CHECK OUT celebrity women guilty of finding love with lawbreakers
Celebrity women guilty of finding love with lawbreakers
1 of 10Ferne McCann and Arthur Collins
Ferne might be one of our TOWIE favourites, but the gorgeous Essex girl has been very unlucky in love. Her relationship with Charlie Sims played out spectacularly while she was on TOWIE, and during her time on Celebs Go Dating she never met anyone who she was interested in.However, just days after publically talking about her plans to marry her now-boyfriend Arthur Collins, the police issued an appeal to find him in connection to an acid attack at a club in London over the bank holiday weekend. He is now serving time.
2 of 10Gemma Collins and Stephen Mortimer
Gemma and Stephen had an on-and-off relationship. He spent two years in prison for grievous bodily harm, and during Gemma's stint in Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, he was back in prison for allegedly breaching his license terms.When she left the house, she also had to face rumours that he had cheated on her numerous times.
3 of 10Kerry Katona and George Kay
Kerry and George have had a tumultuous relationship, and although they called it quits in 2015, the couple decided to rekindle their relationship in August 2016.However, during the time of their marriage breakdown George was allegedly detained for assault and unlawful possession of a taser. He also previously served a three-year prison sentence for blackmail.
4 of 10Mel B and Stephen Belafonte
Mel B filed for divorce from her husband of ten years, Stephen Belafonte after ten years together. The couple share a daughter, Madison. In the leaked papers Mel cited irreconcilable differences as grounds for divorce.Since then, it has come to light that Mel made many allegations against the film producer, including that he was reportedly physically and verbally abusive throughout their marriage.
5 of 10Lauren Goodger and Joey Morrison
Lauren has received a lot of bad press about the men she has dated. When she first appeared on TOWIE, she had been dating Mark Wright for the best part of eight years before they went their separate ways.Lauren then went on to date Jake McLean for four years, and then moved onto Joey Morrison. He's a friend of a friend who was serving time in prison for violent drugs-related charges,
6 of 10Steph Davis and Jeremy McConnell
Steph and Jeremy had an on-off relationship for the best part of 2016 after meeting in the Celebrity Big Brother house.When Steph announced she was pregnant, Jeremy refused to believe he was the father and throughout the pregnancy she was determined to raise her baby on her own.However, when Caben-Albi was born Jeremy stepped up and appeared to be trying to make up for lost time. The couple reunited, but shortly afterwards reports swirled that Jeremy had been arrested on suspicion of assault.Before the news broke, Steph had shared a picture of her bruised body on Snapchat, prompting fans to believe she may have been the victim. Jeremy denied any wrongdoing.
7 of 10Daniella Westbrook and Tom Richards
Daniella dated cage fighter Tom Richards, and they even got engaged before the relatinoship broke down in 2015.Following their break-up, Daniella claimed that Tom had violently attacked her although the charges were eventually dropped.
8 of 10Chantelle Houghton and Alex Reid
Chantelle was engaged to Katie Price's ex, Alex Reid, and the former couple share a daughter, Dolly.But just weeks after Chantelle gave birth, cage fighter Alex was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to the couple's Brentwood home and the pair split shortly after.
9 of 10Katie Price and Leandro Penna
Katie and Leandro met at an Oscars party in 2011 and started dating soon after, even getting engaged for six months before the relationship ended.Although he appeared to have a squeaky clean image, in 2013 Leandro was accused of assault after a disagreement at a party in London, hinting that Katie's ex was more of a bad boy than anyone initially thought.
10 of 10Cara Kilby and Daniel Harris
Cara Kilby only had a brief stint on TOWIE, but she was a firm favourite with viewers.Her boyfriend, Daniel, was sentenced to two years in prison after being accussed of leading a gang that sold drugs across London.
Shannon had not been seen since 3.10pm the previous day, after she had failed to return from school to her home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, sparking a huge search involving the police and the close-knit local community.
But it wasn’t long before suspicion began to fall on Karen. DC Christine Freeman recalls arriving at the Matthews’ home, saying, “When I got to the house, Karen and her boyfriend Craig Meehan were playing on an Xbox. Karen hardly looked up.”
Freeman also recalled that, when her mobile phone rang, Karen got up and cheerfully danced to the ringtone. As the search for Shannon continued, people began remarking that Karen seemed to be enjoying the attention. And in many of her TV appearances, there is a hint of a smirk as she appeals for the return of her little girl.
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On 14 March, 24 days after she went missing, Shannon was found hidden inside the base of a divan bed in a flat rented by her uncle, Michael Donovan, 39. He and Karen were accused of kidnapping Shannon – who had been drugged and tied up – and conspiring to collect the £50,000 reward.
On 4 December 2008, they were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice, and sentenced to eight years in prison, with the judge calling the crime “despicable and inconceivable”.
Karen was released in 2012, and given a new identity. Shannon, who was traumatised by her ordeal, was given a new identity and placed with a foster family.
Karen Matthews let down her daughter, her friends and neighbours, wasted police time and whipped the nation up into a frenzy of fear. As Richard Edwards put it, “Never in a million years did I think the story would unfold the way it did."
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