THE former partner of the mother of Shannon Matthews – the girl who was missing from her Dewsbury Moor home in February – has appeared in court on child pornography charges.
Craig Meehan, 22, appeared at Dewsbury Magistrates’ Court accused of possessing 140 indecent images of children, which were allegedly found on a computer at the home he shared with Karen Matthews.
Meehan, who wore a black Manchester United shirt to the hearing, is also charged with possessing an indecent image of a young girl on a mobile phone.
No application for bail was made and Meehan was remanded in custody to appear before the same court for trial on September 8.
Meehan, a former supermarket fishmonger, is charged with 12 specimen offences of possession of indecent images of children.
It is alleged Meehan possessed indecent images of children aged between four and 16, graded at levels one to four on a scale where one is the least serious and five is the most serious.
They were allegedly found on one of two computers at the family home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, where he lived with Karen Matthews, 32, for around five years.
A further image was allegedly found on a mobile phone.
Meehan denies all the charges and his trial is listed to last for five days.
Bespectacled Meehan appeared for the 20-minute case management hearing yesterday. He spoke only to confirm his name, address, age and date of birth.
