Shannon Matthews trial Day 7: Shannon drugged for 20 months

Nov 19 2008 By Andrew Jackson

A FORENSIC toxicologist told the trial of Shannon Matthews’s mother that hair samples from the little girl showed the "potent hypnotic" drug temazepam had been taken by her regularly months before she vanished.

Dr Craig Chatterton told Leeds Crown Court that trace amounts of the drug and the travel sickness medication Melcozine were found in Shannon’s urine after she was discovered.

Dr Chatterton said this meant the drugs would have been ingested by her up to 72 hours before the sample was taken.

But he said traces of the drugs found in Shannon’s hair showed they had been taken over a much longer period.

He said the drug was detected in all 20cm of her hair.

The scientist said the fact the drugs were present "in each segment indicates it was ingested over an extended period dating back 20 months."