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Shannon mother 'said plan failed' Shannon mother 'said plan failed'
(41 minutes later)
Shannon Matthews's mother said she reported her daughter missing when a plan to move in with co-accused Michael Donovan went wrong, a jury heard.Shannon Matthews's mother said she reported her daughter missing when a plan to move in with co-accused Michael Donovan went wrong, a jury heard.
Karen Matthews's neighbour Natalie Brown said she made the admission in a car with a police officer present three weeks after her daughter was found. Karen Matthews told a detective and two friends that she had asked Mr Donovan to look after Shannon while she left her partner, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Mrs Brown said the detective then told Ms Matthews she would be arrested. Det Con Christine Freeman then told Ms Matthews she would be arrested.
Ms Matthews, 33, of Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, and Mr Donovan, 40, deny kidnap and false imprisonment.Ms Matthews, 33, of Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, and Mr Donovan, 40, deny kidnap and false imprisonment.
Mrs Brown told Leeds Crown Court: "She was in floods of tears, shaking, really scared." Mrs Freeman, a police family liaison officer, said Ms Matthews's friends asked her whether she had arranged for Mr Donovan to take Shannon while she left her partner Craig Meehan.
'Bags packed' People will hate me for what I've done and I've disgraced the kids What Karen Matthews allegedly told friends
Another neighbour who was in the car, Julie Bushby, told the court that Ms Matthews said she was planning to leave her partner Craig Meehan. The officer told the court: "Karen took the biggest intake of breath that I've ever heard in my life and said, 'Yes, that's right'.
She told the jury: "She said she's packed her bags ready to leave him and couldn't go through with it. "She said that she'd planned to leave Craig and she'd asked for Mike to take Shannon and she'd packed her bag intending to leave but then she'd ended up having to report Shannon missing to cover her back."
"She was crying, sobbing really. She was blaming everybody else but herself." The court heard Ms Matthews made the admission while in a car with the detective and her friends Natalie Brown and Julie Bushby, three weeks after Shannon was found.
Mrs Bushby said Ms Matthews told how she had asked Mr Donovan to look after Shannon for a few days "until she'd got the strength to leave Craig". Mrs Brown said: "She was in floods of tears, shaking, really scared."
She said Ms Matthews told them: "People will hate me for what I've done and I've disgraced the kids."
Shannon Matthews disappeared for 24 days in FebruaryShannon Matthews disappeared for 24 days in February
Mrs Bushby told the jury: "She said she's packed her bags ready to leave him and couldn't go through with it.
"She was crying, sobbing really. She was blaming everybody else but herself."
Earlier the jury was read transcripts from interviews Ms Matthews gave to the police under caution after Shannon was found but before she was arrested.Earlier the jury was read transcripts from interviews Ms Matthews gave to the police under caution after Shannon was found but before she was arrested.
She told officers that Mr Donovan had asked her and her children to go and live with him after she had an argument with Mr Meehan last December. She said Mr Donovan had asked her to go and live with him after she had an argument with Mr Meehan last December.
Ms Matthews said she declined the offer.Ms Matthews said she declined the offer.
Leeds Crown Court heard she told police: "That's the reason he's done this. I could have protected her from him". Leeds Crown Court heard she told police: "That's the reason he's done this. I could have protected her from him."
She said she thought Mr Donovan looked like "a nasty piece of work" when she first met him and they had "never been close". She said she and Mr Donovan had "never been close".
Ms Matthews was asked directly if she knew where her daughter was all along.Ms Matthews was asked directly if she knew where her daughter was all along.
She told the detectives: "I swear on my life I did not. She said: "I swear on my life I did not.
"If I knew where she was I would have gone and grabbed her myself.""If I knew where she was I would have gone and grabbed her myself."
On Tuesday the trial heard that nine-year-old Shannon was found hidden under a bed by police at Mr Donovan's flat in Batley Carr, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.On Tuesday the trial heard that nine-year-old Shannon was found hidden under a bed by police at Mr Donovan's flat in Batley Carr, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
The prosecution claim Ms Matthews and Mr Donovan planned the kidnap of Shannon together so they could claim £50,000 of reward money.The prosecution claim Ms Matthews and Mr Donovan planned the kidnap of Shannon together so they could claim £50,000 of reward money.
Ms Matthews and Mr Donovan, also deny perverting the course of justice.Ms Matthews and Mr Donovan, also deny perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues.The trial continues.