Horrid list of rules Shannon Matthews was forced to obey during kidnapping

19 February 2024 , 11:51

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It's 16 years ago today that news of Shannon Matthews' kidnap first broke.

Tied to a bed and unable to go outside as every police force in the UK scoured the country for her, the nine-year-old schoolgirl was reported missing by her mum Karen Matthews in February 2008, sparking the biggest manhunt since the search for the Yorkshire Ripper.

While detectives feared she had been kidnapped and desperately appealed for information about her whereabouts, Shannon was in fact cooped up in a bedroom less than a mile from her Dewsbury home.

After a harrowing 24 days, she was found at the home of Michael Donovan - uncle of Matthews' then-partner Craig Meehan.

Horrid list of rules Shannon Matthews was forced to obey during kidnapping eiqrhiqzxierinv

Shannon Matthews was missing for 24 days in 2008, but it later emerged her mum Karen knew where she was the whole time (PA)

The list of rules was discovered by West Yorkshire Police when Shannon's whereabouts came to light (PA)

When the missing child was discovered, police also found a chilling note of rules revealing how Shannon - who was lured away by the promise she was being taken to the seaside - was expected to occupy herself during the days she was missing.

'Britain's worst mum' now - new identity, paedo boyfriend, 'lavish lifestyle'

The list warned her that she must stay hidden - even limiting how loud she could turn up the TV. The heartbreaking note read: "Rules. You must not make any noise or bang your feet.

"You must not go near the windows. You must not get anything or do anything without me been here (sic).

The bedroom where Shannon Matthews spent her 24 days (Daily Mirror)

"Keep the TV volume (low) only up to 8 or lower. You can play the Super Mario games and you can play some DVDs and you can play the CD music."

It was signed off with the initials I.P.U - which is thought to stand for 'I promise you' - a threat Matthews used against Shannon, who has since been given a new identity.

The scruffy bedroom containing cheap wooden furniture was the former sleeping area for Donovan's two daughters who were taken into care before the kidnap. An electronic keyboard and, bizarrely, a glue gun were found on top of a metal framed double bunk.

Underneath there was a CD by Busted, one of Shannon's favourite bands, and a leaflet giving details of a range of Sold Out action PC games. Near a smoke alarm case there was a copy of Arrive Alive, a colourful highway code book for youngsters.

Matthews, 48, had hoped to cash in on a £50,000 reward for her daughter, but was jailed in 2008 when her plot was foiled. Police described Matthews as “pure evil” after she was found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. She and Donovan were both sentenced to eight years in prison and released in 2012 after serving half their terms.

Matthews was reportedly engaged to paedophile Paul Saunders (Oxford Mail)

Matthews was jailed for four years (ANDY STENNING)

The disgraced mum reportedly later got engaged to convicted child abuser Paul Saunders, 57. The paedophile, from Blackbird Leys, Oxford, was jailed for five years for abusing a vulnerable girl over a period of three years.

Saunders preyed upon his victim when he was working as a driver taking the elderly to hospital and disabled teenagers to college. He admitted engaging in sexual activity with a child, making indecent images of a child and two counts of sexual assault between 2006 and 2009 when his victim was aged between 15 and 17.

Despite claims they got engaged, with Matthews snapped flashing her engagement ring, the pair are believed to have split soon after.