The disappearance of Shannon Matthews.

[Pebbledashery]

Is anyone watching this on c5 shortly? I'm fascinated by how brazen her Mother was. Poor, poor child :(

@Bluntess Every major enquiry has high ranking officers in them, unless he is ACC or above, just for your info.

[quote Pebbledashery]@dottypotter you are very much entitled to your opinion

Just because one watches a documentary, doesn't mean there hope to achieve anything out of it. There's a thread on a program that aired this week regarding paedophiles that many, many people viewed.... Doesn't mean they hope to achieve anything after watching it other than educate themselves.
If that's how viewing a particular program makes you feel then you're completely entitled to that opinion.. But doesn't mean there is anything specifically wrong with any other individual that chooses to watch.[/quote]
Nothing of that particular programme identified a child who had been abused.

This program was specifically about one child who was neglected and abused. And, going by the way another 'documentary maker' absolutely hounded DP's friend, his partner, his parents, his workmates and anybody else they could find on his social media with threats about 'we're going to make it anyway, so would he rather have us say where he lives, what he's doing now and out him as gay/the lover of the victim or would he rather go on camera?', it wouldn't surprise me if the poor woman had to field multiple attempted contacts 'inviting' her to give them a big exclusive before they gave up and made yet another one about how she was abused - for entertainment (and advertising revenues).

How do you get on with things when every time you look at the TV listings, there's a chance there could be a show on about how you were abused and betrayed? That if anybody finds out your birth name, they'll know what happened to you? That people are still making a good income out of your suffering as a child? That if you aren't careful with your friends/social media, there will be another bunch of vultures circling for a slice of the money they can make from your abuse?

I can't imagine there being a TV show in the entertainment category about an adult woman's rape where the woman survived. Much less a man's. But a child's sexual abuse? Go right ahead, there's a public thirst for that.

That's why it doesn't feel right to some people.

@Nicknacky ooh didn't you know that @Bluntness100 knows everything about everything or someone who knows everything

🙄

@catinbootsx Errr, yes. She has argued with me about my job previously and told me I was wrong 😂. It amused me that she never came back to admit she might not have known about Scots law. It’s stuck in my mind.

Total scumbag mother.

I find it unbelievable (okay I don't believe it) that a high ranking police officer would give away their thoughts about an incredibly high profile case over a casual dinner. Shockingly unprofessional if true.

One of my friend’s neighbours worked on the Yorkshire Ripper cases and never shuts up about it. Some people can’t help it, it seems.

One of the strangest moments in the Moorside drama was when one of the officer's phones went off and the ring tone was a pop song, and Matthews jumped up and did a silly little dance. And apparently that was exactly what happened!

@clawdy and when she saw Shannon and said can I go home now.

This is the woman Sheridan Smith played.. She kept visiting KM in prison too.

I have no connection to this case but I remember it very clearly and I had a strong impression from the start that everything was not what it seemed. I also got the feeling from reading between the lines of press reports that it was an open secret that the police were suspicious. I think the press conferences were set up with the hope she might let something slip. I often wonder that about other press conferences where relatives speak.

One thing that also really annoyed me at the time and it's in the programme linked upthread, KM wouldn't stop going on about Madeline MacCann. This was a deliberate ploy to get more attention, exploiting that disgusting anti MacCann narrative (they're too middle class, they were drinking wine instead of staying with their little Princess, stuck up snobs, unlike us salt of the earth etc etc).

@Pebbledashery

I just can't believe her mother thought she could have gotten away with it.

I thought this too.

And I assume it’s all in the programme tomorrow but the step dad was into child porn and also got caught when they searched the house again post finding her.

Just to say there’s no such thing as “child porn” - it’s “images of child sexual abuse”.

familyofaliens thanks for making that point about 'child porn' I was just about to write the same in the comments under the youtube programme linked upthread.

'Child porn' somehow conveys the sense that it's porn (normal) that just happens to have children in it (maybe they made it themselves for the lolz!). Call it what it is, images of abuse.

Yes fully agree. No such abominable thing as child porn. Images of children being sexually abused 😢

And again I am loving Julie Bushby who was suspicious as soon as Shannon was found.

I work with lots of "Julie" people in the community....and without exception they are fabulous and will bend over backwards to support people.

My overriding memory of this case was a very snotty, sanctimonious article in The Guardian bewailing the fact that Shannon wasn't getting the same reception as Madeleine JUST BECAUSE SHE WAS POOR, and how heartless and elitist the whole of society was for being suspicious of poor Karen who must be going through hell.

Julie is exactly the sort of woman you want as a neighbour, she seems lovely.

@catinbootsx

I find it unbelievable (okay I don't believe it) that a high ranking police officer would give away their thoughts about an incredibly high profile case over a casual dinner. Shockingly unprofessional if true.

I've known a few people who've been in positions like that who just can't keep their traps shut. It amazes me.

Have a feeling that there is a lot of awful stuff going on in these sink estates at the moment, with no school and teachers to keep an eye on children from these sort of homes.

My god, yes. You can only imagine what is going on with some of those poor kids, where school was their only escape.

@MissEliza Such as giving you intimate details that aren’t in the public domain?

Did I hear right that they said she had been drugged for 20 months?! They really skipped over that. No doubt they are not able to disclose what was going on there but my god, what sort of life did this family have? I hope all of those kids are now leading a secure and happy life. Same for that young girl, Shannon's friend. She seems traumatised, I hope she can find some happiness too.

The thing about this story and the documentary about the paedophiles, is that it should shake us out of any sense of complacency. These stories just show the tip of the iceberg. Anyone who has worked in social services or health care/ police in relation to child protection knows that there is so much awful stuff going on it is impossible to deal with. I don't know the answers. I have friends working in social services and I don't know how they do it.

@Fgs1

Have a feeling that there is a lot of awful stuff going on in these sink estates at the moment, with no school and teachers to keep an eye on children from these sort of homes.

I wish the 'shut the schools' lobby felt like that.