Shannon Matthews trial Day 15: Case 'fatally flawed'

Dec 2 2008 By Andrew Jackson

THE case against the mother of Dewsbury schoolgirl Shannon Matthews is "fatally flawed", a court has heard.

The prosecution have failed to answer important questions in the trial of Karen Matthews, the jury at Leeds Crown Court was told.

The court has heard how Shannon, who was nine at the time, was found in Michael Donovan’s flat 24 days after she went missing from her home.

The prosecution allege Donovan kept her drugged and imprisoned in his flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, as part of a plan he and Matthews had to claim £50,000 in reward money.

Frances Oldham, QC, summing up her case for Matthews, told the jury: "Beware the danger, inherent in this case, of jumping to conclusions. When you stand back from this case in week four, are you left with answers or questions?

"The prosecution have to make you sure of the counts that they bring against Karen Matthews. If, as we submit on her behalf, you are left with important unanswered questions, then you cannot be sure, can you?"