Media storm as ‘Shannon’ trial gets under way

Nov 12 2008 by Neil Atkinson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

The Shannon Matthews abduction trial has attracted a media circus. SAM CASEY reports from an opening day of technicalities

IN the event it was a stuttering start to one of the most keenly anticipated trials in years.

Leeds Crown Court was, once again, at the centre of a media storm as the Shannon Matthews abduction case looked set to begin in earnest.

The degree of interest surrounding any trial can usually be gauged by the number of photographers, cameramen and TV vans stationed outside the court building.

Predictably, Oxford Row in Leeds groaned under their collective weight yesterday.

On a day when Dewsbury again seemed to be the unwanted focus of attention, there were unexpected and explosive developments in the Amar Aslam murder trial taking place in another courtroom.

But even that hearing did not have the pull of what promised to be genuine drama in Court 12.