The sensational story of Dewsbury kidnap victim Shannon Matthews is to be made into a TV drama.
A Bafta-winning team of TV producers are making a film of the amazing story of the youngster who was kidnapped by her own mother.
The faked kidnap plot – which Karen Matthews hoped would net her tens of thousands of pounds in rewards from national newspapers – stunned the country in 2008.
Shannon, then just nine, apparently vanished on her way home from school in Dewsbury Moor. West Yorkshire Police mounted one of their biggest-ever inquiries, running up a bill of more than £3m.
But it was to be 19 days before Shannon was discovered hidden in a divan bed at the home of Karen Matthews’ accomplice Michael Donovan in Batley Carr.
Both Matthews, now 38, and Donovan were jailed for the audacious plot and are now free from prison.
The acclaimed TV production team behind Appropriate Adult, the story of Fred and Rose West, is expected to get the cameras rolling this year for the Shannon Matthews drama.
The multi award-winning production team were also responsible for TV hits such as See No Evil: The Moors Murders and This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper.
An inside source said: “Nobody has a clue who will play Karen. It must be someone with ginger hair. Catherine Tate would be good. There was also talk of Patsy Palmer.”
The film is set to feature the Matthews’ neighbours in Dewsbury Moor, unmasking the plot.
