Michael Donovan, the kidnapper of Shannon Matthews, passes away from cancer in a hospital, sixteen years after the plot that captivated the nation

He and Shannon’s evil mum, Karen Matthews, came up with the hoax abduction in a bid to claim a £50,000 reward and even tried to extort money from the Find Madeleine McCann Fund.

Cops eventually found Shannon, then nine, in the drawer of a divan bed in Donovan’s flat just a few miles from the estate where she vanished from.

Donovan, the uncle of Karen’s then boyfriend Craig Meehan, was hiding in the other drawer.

The schoolgirl was on her way home in Dewsbury when she "disappeared" on February 19, 2008.

The Sun can now reveal Donovan, who changed his name to Aiden Johnson, was pronounced dead at Three Valleys Hospital in Keighley, West Yorkshire, yesterday.

The sicko, 54, collapsed in the courtyard of the secure mental health hospital around mid-afternoon.

He had been there for the past six years following his 2012 release from prison over his role in Shannon’s kidnapping.

Back in February he was diagnosed with Stage 3 throat cancer and given just months to live.

He had gone to hospital for a routine check-up when medics discovered the massive tumour.

Donovan - whose family disowned him in 2022 - did not have a single visitor in the final months of his life.

Within weeks he was using a Zimmer frame and began looking "extremely frail", sources told The Sun.

And during Christmas last year he was investigated by cops on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children on his phone.

West Yorkshire cops came into the secure hospital to interview Donovan before confiscating the device.

During his stint there he also changed his name to Aiden Johnson to cover up his horrific past.

It is the second time he changed his name by deed poll having been born as Paul Drake.

But he was happy to take "credit" for Shannon’s kidnapping after it was dramatised in the 2017 ITV series Moorside.

A source said: "He wouldn’t interact with the other patients much other than to talk about that series.

"He seemed to think it made him some sort of celebrity."

The source added that Donovan "would not be missed" at the secure unit.

They said: "Nobody really liked him - he was a very unpleasant bloke.

"He kept to himself but he had a horrible temper if he wasn’t happy with something - usually the food.

"He liked his cheese sandwiches and that was about it."

Back in 2008 Donovan held terrified Shannon captive at his dingy flat for 24 days while he and her mum Karen plotted her "disappearance".

The pair hatched the plan in an effort to claim a £50,000 reward for her safe return.

They were found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice and both sentenced to eight years behind bars.

A spokesperson for Elysium Healthcare said: "We will not be issuing any comment or statement."

Karen Matthews fronted a huge appeal to help track down her daughter - who she had hid under a bedCredit: PA

The dingy conditions of the flat Shannon was held in when she ’disappeared’

Nine-year-old Shannon was found hidden in a divan bed