Shannon Matthews documentary viewers hope she is ‘living life happily’ after mum kidnapped her as nine-year-old
PEOPLE who watched a new documentary about Shannon Matthews said they hope she is living a happy life now after her mum kidnapped her when she was nine years old.
The child was kept in horrific conditions after Karen Matthews and her accomplice Michael Donovan staged a kidnap plot.
Shannon’s story has been told in a harrowing new Channel 5 documentary – The Disappearance of Shannon Matthews – with viewers sharing her support for the victim, who now has a new identity.
A person wrote on Twitter: “Darling Shannon Matthews, wherever you and your’ siblings are now, may you be happy. You deserve a happily ever after.”
Another added: “Hope Shannon and her brothers and sisters have be managed to be brought up in caring and happy homes after what happened!”
One more said: “I hope Shannon has found a better, loving family and is being well treated and looked after.
“I still don’t know how anyone could do such things like this, especially parents. Wherever you are Shannon, remember you are loved by me and all!”
In 2008, the youngster – then aged nine – vanished on her way home from a swimming lesson in Dewesbury, West Yorks, sparking a huge £3.2million search.
‘MAY YOU BE HAPPY’
Hundreds of neighbours and friends joined the mission with Shannon’s mum Karen sobbing on TV as she pleaded for her daughter to come home.
But in a shocking twist, it was revealed the monster was behind a plot that saw her daughter drugged and hidden her in a divan bed in a callous bid to claim the £50,000 reward.
The discovery, made 24 days after Shannon disappeared, stunned the nation.
More than 250 officers and 60 detectives were involved in the search with cops quizzing 1,500 motorists and searching 3,000 addresses.
The nine-year-old was eventually found tethered and drugged inside the base of a double bed at Michael Donovan’s grotty flat almost a month after she disappeared.
The documentary, which aired on February 10, sheds new light on the case.
After watching it, some viewers also shared their sympathy for Megan Aldridge, Shannon’s best friend, who has recently spoken of her grief over never seeing her again.
Megan said: “That afternoon we were going to the swimming baths with school and as usual me and Shannon paired up together straightaway.
“When that was over we got on the coach back together. Once we got off the coach, something didn’t seem right.
“Cause her mum told her, her brother was picking her up that day after school but he never showed up. Cause normally if, like, she sends one of the kids to pick Shannon up from school, they’d be waiting outside the gates before we even got there. But there was no one there.
“That was literally, like, the last time I saw her.”
A person tweeted: “I really feel for her best friend Megan, she went to school as a happy nine-year-old one day and she never saw her best friend again.”
The documentary also revealed a chilling list of rules the child was forced to follow – from never going near windows to not making any noise.
Cops later found a handwritten note, headed “Rules” and signed off I.P.U, short for “I Promise You”, which included strict instructions to keep quiet.
The note read: “You must not make any noise or bang your feet” as well as “you must not go near the windows”.
Other rules included: “you must not get anything or do anything without me been here”, while the young school girl was also warned to keep the TV volume low.
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On December 4, 2008, mum-of-seven Karen and Donovan were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
Both were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to eight years behind bars.
Shannon was given a new identity and was taken into care.