Shannon Matthews Mother arrested !!!!!

[kay1981]

They have arrested her on perverting the course of justice - which i think means lying to the police under oath doesnt it?

Is it at all possible that they knew where she was all the time?

Perhaps cahnnel 4 should now re-show the documentary on shannons family and see how it is received knowing what we know.

Message withdrawn

Trolleydolly, it's a climate of emotion over sense fostered in the Blair Years, where people are becoming used to having their emotions whipped up over strangers (rather than engaging with their own lives). This may have affected what reasoning the Matthews family were following (if they were behind the abduction, no one has yet been convicted) that everyone would feel pity for them first then joy at the child's return... (remember those scenes of dancing in the streets when Shannon was first found?

cod, having five different fathers for your kids does not make you a bad mother. Any more than having one father for all your children makes you a good mother.

Not treating those children properly is what makes you a bad mother.

No one is denying Karen Matthews is a crap mother, but I wish the generalisations about people having children with different fathers would stop.

well a revolving front door doesn't make a stable living environment imo

As Karen Matthews has now been charged, any further comment on her character, guilt or innocence could be construed as contempt of court.

Just thought I'd let you know.

wanders off thread, giving thanks that she now has a good reason to stop reading

don't understand the contempt of court bit?

well someone should tell the tabloids that one then

are we not allowed to talk amonst ourselves about what a shit mum she is then?

Olive, you can say pretty much what you like before a person is charged.

However, now that KM has been charged, you are unlikely to find anything about her in the papers until the trial. And during the trial, only the facts of the case can be reported.

The reason for this is so that nothing that may prejudice a jury can be published, thus increasing the likelihood of a fair trial.

Judges can hand down massive fines or even prison sentences for contempt of court. A few years ago the Sunday Mirror was fined £75k.

It's not my business to say what is or what isn't 'allowed' on Mumsnet. If the site's owners wish to take the risk, that is entirely up to them. As far as I know, no website has yet been had up for contempt of court. It's just that a few years ago everyone was saying there was no way you could sue an anonymous internet BB for libel. Since then there have been plenty of cases - one last week, when a board had to pay out £100k to a housing association.

Like I said, everyone can talk about what they like but I'm outta this thread.

Krang - are you off to do some "ironing"?

I see people are still criticising Karen Matthews for 'living off the taxpayer' despite the fact that her boyfriend has a job.

Isn't there enough mud to sling at her without inventing stuff?

And the stuff about Contempt of Court is true. Once someone has been charged, there are only ten facts that the media can publish - details of the charge, any court dates, name, address and I forget the rest. Anything else risks getting you into trouble.

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well I can sit and judge as much as I want

if she was posh and had 7 children by 5 men, half of whom didn't live with her, I would judge

so her class (or lack of it) has nothing to do with it

she is a bad mother, he is a bad 'stepfather' and they live on a sink estate, the children don't have a chance

Worlds best paid fishmonger springs to mind

Council houses aren't free. People pay rent for them, you know.

The allegation that they are sponging off taxpayers is not 'common sense', it's sheer prejudice. There are no facts in the public domain to suggest it is true.

There are plenty of reasons to have a go if you want to (although you should remember no-one has been convicted yet) why do you feel the need to make stuff up?

Well yes, I'm sure they get Tax credits and child benefit. Do you not? Are we now classing ALL benefits as scrounging?

oliveoil - lots of children don't have stable living environments. It doesn't mean that their mothers are bad.

Again, I'm not defending KM, she is a prime example of a bad mother. I'm just argueing that the paternity of her children is not really the issue.

She could easily have been a terrible mother if she was married and Shannon was her only child.

whats a sink estate?

or tax

oh blimey this thread really is moving fast...

Never heard of a sink estate ?

a sink estate is a council estate full of families from hell, like the one they live on

iirc it is the worst in the country according to something I read

so you can be liberal as you like, and wring your hands and say ooooh don't judge I am sure she is lovely really but she isn't imo