Shannon Matthew's stepfather denies 12 child porn charges

The stepfather of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews viewed pornographic pictures of children as young as four on his home computer, a court heard yesterday.

Craig Meehan's computer was seized and investigated after Shannon, nine, went missing. She was found by police 24 days later in a flat less than a mile away.

Yesterday Meehan, 22, denied 12 charges relating to the possession of indecent photographs of children.

Detectives were able to identify when every image was downloaded and on each occasion the supermarket fishmonger could have been at home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, the town's magistrates heard.

Prosecutor David Holderness outlined the case against Meehan at his trial at Dewsbury Magistrates' Court.

Mr Holderness said Meehan faced charges which referred to 134 indecent images of children.

He said 133 of these were found on a second-hand computer Meehan had bought in 2006.

The other was found on Meehan's mobile phone, the prosecutor said.

He said 16 of the images have been classified as level four in a scale which runs from one to five and in which five is the most serious.

The majority of the images were classified as level one with others at level two and three.

Accused: Karen Matthews with Meehan after Shannon disappeared

Mr Holderness said Meehan had pointed the finger at other people who had used his password-protected computer.

The prosecutor said: 'There are substantial amounts of material which, when put together, provide a convincing and overwhelming picture that it was Mr Meehan who was the person who downloaded the relevant materials.'

Mr Holderness said part of the prosecution case would be matching the times at which the images were downloaded with fishmonger Meehan's work record.

At the beginning of the trial he was asked again if he continued to deny the allegations.

As the proceedings unfolded he sat in the dock flanked by two security guards sporting closely shaved hair and glasses.

He was wearing a padded sports coat over a black Manchester United away shirt.

He was charged with the unrelated offences in April this year after he was arrested by officers investigating the disappearance of Shannon.

The nine-year-old went missing on February 19 and was discovered hidden in the base of a bed in a flat one mile from her home after a 24-day search by police.

The youngster's 32-year-old mother, who has six other children, has been charged with kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.

She denied the charges at a hearing last week. On the fourth offence of child neglect, she did not enter a plea.

Meehan's uncle, Michael Donovan, 40, also denies Shannon's kidnap and imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.

They will go on trial at Leeds Crown Court in November.

Shannon vanished on February 19 while walking home from school after a swimming trip.

The police hunt for her and the investigation cost £2.6million and involved 310 officers.

Detectives eventually found the schoolgirl 24 days later in a first-floor flat where Donovan was said to live.

Police inquiries later led to Matthews being arrested and charged in connection with the incident.

The trial, which continues, is expected to last five days.

• Shannon's mother Karen Matthews, 32, and Meehan's uncle Michael Donovan, 40, have denied kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice and are due to stand trial at Leeds Crown Court in November.