am I the only one incredulous about what is going on in the Shannon Matthews trial?

[Tommy]

DH can't understand why I am so interested in it (or "excited" as he puts it )

I just can't get my head around it - how on earth did they think they would get away with it? (big assumption on guilt here, I know, but the facts are that she was found in the home of a family member...)

The whole thing is truly tragic! I really feel for those children today. It's good that the mother and step uncle (?) will be suitably punished for their actions. But those kids, all 7 but especially Shannon will have to grow up knowing what they did - and for money! Maybe they loved their mum (hard as it is to imagine). I really hope they are with wonderful families now. But probably they must have been split up? It just is so sad.

So sad. Karen was a sad little girl once too...

that poor wee girl drugged for months...

She was ra29 but now she is an adult and she had choices to make. She didn't have to perpetuate whatever cycle of neglect and abuse she came from (assuming she did come from such a background). There comes a time when the buck stops with you and I think it stopped with her a long time before she got to kidnapping her own daughter.

Someone asked earlier if stupidity is a defence - only if your mental state is so disturbed/so unintelligent that you are incapable of comprehending that your actions are wrong. She's thick but not that thick.

drugged for months? She was only gone for 24 days???

yes drugged for months. She was being drugged by someone long before she was abducted.

yes that's true - medical reports have found that she has temazapam in her bloodstream and tests indicate it has been in her system for as long as two years. How terrible. My thoughts is that KM probably used prescription adult drugs to pacify her kids when they got on her nerves.

yep it would appear so donnie xmas was a peak and summer so nice long evenings and she kept her quiet by drugging her

i wonder if they tested the other children?

I don't feel any sympathy for the mother at all. To give your child that cocktail of drugs for up to two years from the age of 7... watching Panorama last night, the description of her being reunited with Shannon broke my heart. For KM to reject her so plainly when Shannon came to cuddle her. Urrrrgh

I feel a huge amount of sympathy for those kids. I hope they have lots of hugs and cuddles and love over this Christmas.

according to The Times, SS took Shannon and her siblings off the child protection register despite having psychological reports that Karen was incapable of putting her children's needs before her own, and despite repeated contact from the school and neighbours reporting serious concerns.

Yet they've acted fast to get court orders NOW when it helps them avoid embarrassment (to avoid The Times telling the full story of SS involvement with the family). And apparently Shannon's headteacher went ballistic when SS tried to claim that they hadn't had any complaints from school.

Kirklees SS were also involved in another case where they let a neglected child die.

My godmother was head of Kirklees SS back in the 60s and 70s when SWs actually looked after children, protected them and helped families. She was horrified at the case of the poor child who died - can only imagine how disgusted she feels today.

I agree that the kidnap plot is probably a one-off, but the tale of neglect and abuse is just the tip of the iceberg in this country. And the fact that SS did nothing indicates that this sort of neglect is considered pretty low-level. That's a grim thought.

It's amazing it has taken someone so long to pull a stunt right out of a Shameless episode...

I think they are both as bad as one another, shame for the kids. what a lifestyle.