Tonight:
5°c
Shannon's mother cries again as she denies lying
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent28 Nov 2008
THE mother of Shannon Matthews today denied telling "blatant lies" as she resumed giving evidence at her trial.
Karen Matthews stepped into the witness box at Leeds crown court for a second day and began sobbing almost immediately as she was cross-examined by Alan Conrad QC, who is representing her co-accused Michael Donovan. Mr Conrad said: "You're telling blatant lies to this jury, aren't you?" She said: "No".
The court also heard how Matthews went shopping for a sat-nav system with a neighbour on the night her daughter disappeared. But she denied buying beer at a supermarket.
Matthews, 33, and Donovan, 40, both deny kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. The court has heard how Shannon, then nine, was found in Donovan's flat after going missing from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in February. The prosecution allege that Donovan imprisoned and drugged Shannon as part of his and Matthews's plan to claim a £50,000 reward.
Matthews was questioned about why she told police, after her arrest over her daughter's disappearance, that she asked Donovan to pick Shannon up from school.
She replied: "I didn't ask him to pick her up from school. I was confused what I was saying." She said she was scared of her partner Craig Meehan, whom she says told her what to say to police.
The trial continues.
