Man remanded over Shannon kidnap

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Michael Donovan, of Lidgate Gardens, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, appeared at Dewsbury Magistrates' Court, charged with taking the nine-year-old schoolgirl on February 19.

He was remanded in custody and will appear next at Leeds Crown Court on March 26.

Shannon was discovered less than a mile from her home in Dewsbury on Friday afternoon, 24 days after she went missing.

Donovan was led into the dock shortly before 10.15am, handcuffed to a custody officer. The handcuffs were removed and he sat down, flanked by four custody officers, throughout the seven-minute hearing.

Dressed in a dark blue sweatshirt and dark grey trousers, Donovan spoke in a frail voice to confirm his name, address and date of birth. Throughout the short hearing he sat motionless, looking at the magistrates as the charges were put to him.

There was no application for bail by Donovan's solicitor, Malcolm Knowle. The defendant will make his next appearance at Crown Court by video link.

He is charged with two offences. The first is that on February 19, in Dewsbury, he "unlawfully and by force or fraud took away Shannon Matthews against her will". The second is that between February 18 and March 15, he "at 26 Lidgate Gardens, Dewsbury, unlawfully and injuriously imprisoned Shannon Matthews and detained her against her will".

Members of Shannon's family attended the hearing, including her uncle, Neil Hyett, and his wife, Amanda, who broke down in tears at the start of the proceedings.

After the charges were put to Donovan and he was remanded in custody, he was once again handcuffed and led out of the court by the custody officers.