Shannon Matthews trial day 2 - Search for Shannon cost more than £3m

Nov 12 2008 By Andrew Jackson

A JURY was told how the search for Shannon Matthews was one of the largest ever conducted by the West Yorkshire force.

Prosecutor Julian Goose, QC, said the 24-day hunt cost almost £3.2 million and involved three quarters of all the UK’s specially-trained police dogs.

At its height, the search involved more than 300 police officers, members of the public and the media, who all joined in with the operation to find her, the court was told.

Within a half-mile radius of where Shannon was last seen, 1,800 premises were searched and extensive house-to-house inquiries were conducted at many more.

The court was told most child abduction investigations resulted in the victim being found within a half-mile radius of where he or she went missing.

This was why West Yorkshire Police committed its "huge resources" to this area where there were more than 2,850 premises, the jury was told.

Mr Goose said more than 800 CCTV tapes and computer hard drives were examined and 41 other areas were searched outside the half-mile radius of Moorside Road, including operations in Cumbria and Nottinghamshire.