Shannon's "evil" mum guilty in kidnap case

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - The mother of Shannon Matthews was branded "pure evil" after being found guilty on Thursday of a plot to kidnap her daughter to claim a large newspaper reward for the girl's recovery.

Prosecutors said the West Yorkshire schoolgirl was drugged and probably kept captive on a leash during her incarceration as Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan, the uncle of her then boyfriend, plotted to collect the 50,000-pound reward.

Matthews, 33, and Donovan, 40, were both convicted at Leeds Crown Court of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice, the Press Association reported.

"Karen Matthews is pure evil," said Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan outside court.

"She started deceiving those closest to her from the very moment that Shannon was kidnapped. It's difficult to understand what type of mother would subject her own daughter to such a wicked and evil crime."

The judge, Justice McCombe warned the pair that they faced a "substantial custodial sentence."

Shannon was nine when she disappeared on February 19 as she walked home from school in freezing weather.

Matthews made a series of tearful TV appeals for help in finding her daughter as West Yorkshire Police launched one of the force's largest ever searches, at a cost of 3.2 million pounds.  Continued...