Shannon Matthews: The McCanns, A Shameless Scam And Paul Donovan
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Shannon Matthews
THE STAR: “SHANNON SNATCH ‘SCAM’”
A scam? Who would have thought it?
The mum of Shannon Matthews has allegedy confessed that her daughter’s abduction was just a Shameless scam.
Sobbing Karen Matthews, 32, was arrested on suspicion of perverting justice after reportedly telling a woman detective she had known where Shannon was all along.
Shameless? Ashamed?
In an episode of the Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless, screened just four weeks before Shannon vanished, family head Frank Gallagher’s teenage daughter Debbie staged the fake kidnap of her younger brother Liam in a bid to pocket a £500,000 ransom.
“Missing” Liam – played by Johnny Bennett, nine, – was hidden by Debbie (Rebecca Ryan, 16) at a pal’s home just down the road.
Missing children are a form of entertainment.
DAILY EXPRESS: “MUM: ‘I ALWAYS KNEW WHERE SHANNON WAS’”
The mother of kidnap girl Shannon Matthews has allegedly told police: “I knew where she was, right from day one.”
And the McCanns..?
A spokesman for the McCanns confirmed they had received approaches from “people purporting to be members of Shannon’s family” for donations from the Find Madeleine Fund, but said it had been decided not to get involved.
But the McCanns did get involved.
Gerry and Kate were “deeply concerned” at the plight of Shannon’s family. Kate, 39, said: “My heart goes out to them. We always hoped and prayed that no other family would have to suffer like we have.”
And singer Leona Lewis seized the moment to make an appeal.
THE SUN: “’Family’ beg from McCanns”
Kate and Gerry McCann got a string of emails and letters demanding financial help to find Shannon, nine. One man even turned up on their doorstep claiming he represented her family.
Karen Matthews has seven children by five men. Which man was it who turned up?
A source close to the couple said: “Kate and Gerry were getting ready to go to church. He opened the door to find this man who basically demanded cash.
“Gerry was stunned. It was as if he thought he was just going to pull out a cheque book.
“When he explained that the fund is governed by trustees who approve all expenditure, the man got annoyed and said, ‘But I’ve driven all the way from Dewsbury.’
“Kate and Gerry found it quite disturbing. They didn’t even know if these people were who they said they were, and what the cash would actually be used for.”
DAILY MAIL: “Did Shannon’s mother invent kidnap to make money… and base it on TV drama Shameless?”
Well…
It was revealed that Miss Matthews had wanted to leave 22-year-old fishmonger Craig Meehan and had spoken to his uncle, Michael Donovan, 39, who offered her a place to stay. She has denied having an affair with Donovan.
When he allegedly picked up Shannon on February 19, Miss Matthews is said to have “bottled it” and reported Shannon missing instead.
Which, if true, rather put Mr Donovan in an awkward position? But he did, allegedly, have plenty of room, a compact bedroom for Shannon – a room in an actual divan bed…
A source told the Daily Mail: “Her friends started asking her about apparent inconsistencies in her story. They asked her several questions, hoping she would dispel the rumours.
“Then, one of her friends said she had had enough and wanted to know what really happened. She put it to her that she knew right from the very start where Shannon was and who she was with.“At that moment Karen apparently broke down in tears and was shaking uncontrollably.”
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Shannon Matthews’ mother ‘may have copied TV kidnap plot’”
The Daily Telegraph understands that officers are examining alleged similarities between Shannon’s disappearance and a storyline from the Channel 4 drama series Shameless shown in the month before the nine-year-old vanished.
In it, the teenage daughter of Frank Gallagher, the head of a dysfunctional family, staged the fake kidnap of his youngest son, Liam, in an attempt to obtain a £500,000 ransom. All along, Liam was hidden a few doors away with a friend of his sister.
A missing child. Money. Reward. A kind of fame? A TV entertainment show or a TV news else?
It has emerged that police are examining allegations that people claiming to be connected to Shannon’s family asked for donations from the fund set up to find Madeleine McCann, the four-year-old who vanished from a Portuguese holiday apartment last May. A spokesman for her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, said they had received “a number of approaches” for aid from the Find Madeleine Fund from purported representatives of the Matthews family.
THE TIMES: “Karen Matthews ‘told friends she knew where Shannon was from start’”
Ms Matthews is said to have told her friends that as the hours after her daughter’s disappearance turned into days, “everything got out of control and she didn’t know how to stop it” because she was too ashamed to tell the truth.
Mr Donovan, a former computer programmer, is understood to have maintained from the day of his arrest that other members of Shannon’s family, including the girl’s mother, had known that she was with him.
THE INDEPENDENT: “Shannon’s mother arrested as abduction inquiry widens”
Ms Matthews’ cousin, Vicky Saunders, said the arrest had come as a shock to the community. “I was just shocked. I can’t believe it myself,” she said. “I was with Karen when Shannon first went missing, I went and helped, she was in a state.”
Ms Saunders described Ms Matthews as a loving mother. “She loves all her kids no matter what. It’s just upsetting,” she said.
She added that the community was “sticking together like we did when she went missing.” “Everybody is just all shocked and can’t believe it. I’m still there for all the family and the kids,” she said. “She knows I’m always here for her, being a cousin of hers. Unless anyone’s been charged or proven I’m still sticking by everybody. We’re still all friends on this street.”
Posted: 8th, April 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (202) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
April 8th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Jo
120
Why justine guiness and clarrie would possibly explain how Madeleine”s traces of blood were found in the car?????
How could they possibly know anything about it?
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I would have loads of questions to put to JMcG and CM. Between them, they have spent thousands of hours with the McCs and must have observations and memories of conversations overhead, etc. However, that’s from the ‘prosecution’ side of things. Presuming they remain loyal - as CM will 103% (barring slip ups), but I’m less sure about JMcG - their testimonies will be for the ‘defence’ side of things and I’d guess they were requested for interview by the McCs as ‘character witnesses’.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Listening again, Clarrie’s spin is that the McCanns would welcome a televised Crimewatch style program to help jog peoples memories and get some more leads. Some people might think he was looking to top up the fund.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
SC46
101
BF - besides they can stage a reconstruction without the relevant players. Just get actors like crimewatch.
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You can. However, a CrimeWatch reconstruction is to jog the memory of someone who might have observed what happened from ‘outside’, as it were whereas, in the McC case, I don’t think that’s the point. I think the point of this one would be for the actual players to participate, probably in real time, so that the police can observe their ‘inside’ reactions to what is going on.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
didnt the virtual sims reconstruction type show it to be all bollox?
April 8th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
136 SteveT Says:
April 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Just heard Clarrie on 5 Live. The reporter was also saying that the news of the reconstruction had only come out in the last 2 hours. Clarrie said that the |McCanns had requested a Crimewatch style reconstruction many months ago.
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Yes SteveT - but Clarence meant a reconstruction with actors taking the place of the McCanns!
April 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
The interesting thing is that as May 3 approaches, the PJ can do reconstruction of the Last Photo by the pool. Unless Clarence has some connections in outer space to alter the sun’s azimuth on that date, the pool photo reconstruction will also be able to prove without a shadow of doubt (couldn’t resist that pun) whether the photo was authentic or not.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Just heard Clarrie on 5 Live. The reporter was also saying that the news of the reconstruction had only come out in the last 2 hours. Clarrie said that the |McCanns had requested a Crimewatch style reconstruction many months ago.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Matthews? Craig? Who’s that?
Ah, isn’t that the family that showed real emotions and behaved dignified… hmmm….
April 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
PJ
Profesional Jousters.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Maybe they will drop arguidos status to get them to go back!
April 8th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
130 SteveT
It’s a win-win situation for the PJ at last. Refusal to return will be extremely damaging and will seriously question the credibility of Clarence’s comments about wanting to help the police.
I wonder how the NHS would view it if GM doesn’t go back voluntarily to “help”?
April 8th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Stevo,
I tend to think that. They have been told IMO that if they just go through the motions of the interviews the PJ will be forced to drop the case.
Fools mate!
April 8th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Sky News have announced that the McCanns are going back to Portugal for a re-enactment of events on the fateful night. Presumably the other Tapas 7/8? will need to be present too in order to demonstrate the 20 min checks throughout the evening, and the absence of one, RO’B, for a considerable time, due to child being sick.
It was also announced on Sky News at lunchtime that it was thought that Shannon Matthews could have been located a lot sooner and it had been unnecessary to stretch the search out for three weeks.
Wonder if it was thought expedient to have the Shannon Matthews story competing with the Tapas 7 interviews and the McCs doing their bit for amber alert in Brussels at the same time?
April 8th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
126
SteveT
I think the reconstruction won’t take place. People will spill the beans before that.
It’s a fait accompli - Rebelo has just played his move and announced “check”.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
It might look something like this on the way to East Midlands Airport:
http://tinyurl.com/5pe2uk
April 8th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
In the reconstruction, will the McCanns and friends have to demonstrate how they clocked up so many miles in their cars?
April 8th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Re: T9 going back to Portugal…
1. They (and Clarence) will say it’s a futile exercise because the PJ should be spending their time looking for an abductor.
2. If the T9 refuse, the PJ will milk it and say that the T9 are now deliberately hampering the investigation.
3. On the other hand, any T7 who want to help the police so as to not incriminate themselves, will go and so this could drive a wedge between the “pact”.
4. Any T9 not going back will risk everything - livelihoods, possible perjury etc.
5. One back in Portugal they all, of course, risk arrest.
I said last week this was the endgame. Rebelo has come up with a masterstroke. Genius!
April 8th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
This week gets betterer and betterer
April 8th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
121
brandon
eink?
April 8th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
117
SteveT Says:
April 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
My name is Steve and Im a moody dowdy middle aged man.
*******
How dowdy and how middle?
April 8th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Jo
They were in it most of the time
April 8th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Why justine guiness and clarrie would possibly explain how Madeleine”s traces of blood were found in the car?????
How could they possibly know anything about it?
April 8th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
You couldn’t make it up could you?
Just gets weirder and weirder………..
April 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Stevet
Thats as maybe but you got a tad excited !
Ians over the moon !!!
April 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
My name is Steve and Im a moody dowdy middle aged man.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
114
Cheshire
What an other sordid story
April 8th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
106
SteveT
Yep!
You will see there will be more of it soon
The PJ has its own PR
April 8th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Afternoon pop pickers…
Any news since Shannon was ‘found’ from her real father (as opposed to step/mums squeeze etc) He appears to have just disappeared???
Very strange…
April 8th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
107
brandon flours Says:
April 8th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Jo
THANK YOU xxxxxxxxxxxxxx lets dance
These moody middle aged men are no fun !
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Its the BEST news in weeks and months
Can they refuse to go back if asked to,because they are always whining they would be going back if their status is lifted….although they were going to go anyhow for the first anniversary
Bastards GGGGGGRrrrrrRRRRggggGGG
April 8th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I said moody not dowdy