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 :(

I found it uneasy factual content till I saw her friend Megan

The age of her and the pain in her eyes being interviewed about the disappearance really got to me

The things poor Shannon must have put up with, who drugs a child for 2 years?

I can't believe she was interviewed when she was 9. The poor girl looked absolutely terrified.

I believe Karen when she said she did it to get away from Craig, she was probably scared of him and didn't know what else to do.
But the 'plan' went wrong. I honestly don't think she did it for the money, I mean, how was she to know a reward would be put up?
plus I don't get why Julie was so obsessed with the case, and with Karen. She carried on seeing her in prison for years. The only one apparently.

Only somebody from the family contacted the Mccan family asking for funds ,and Karen mentioned the MM case and all the funds raised for her ,she may have been trying to get away from Craig ,but I think money was a big factor,clearly it was a very inept ill thought out plan however

She had 7 children by 5 men. Those poor kids.

I think she knew perfectly well that a reward would be set up and that she would get lots of attention. There are other ways of leaving a man that don't involve drugging your child and faking her abduction.

I thought Julie came across as a really decent person with an enormous amount of compassion, for both the children and for Karen. She was Karen's friend, so it wasn't a matter of being 'obsessed' with the case. The whole experience must have been immensely upsetting for her too.

@Clawdy agree that the 'trying to get away from Craig' excuse for sending Shannon to the uncle's house doesn't make any sense.

I remember there being threads about this on MN a couple of years ago (had there been a TV drama) and there were a lot of negative opinions towards Julie. However, I thought she came across as a genuine and caring person. By keeping the campaign going and Shannon in people's minds, she probably is indirectly responsible for that person providing the tip off about Donovan.

The comments about Julie on the other thread we're definitely very negative. I thought she came across quite well in this.

[quote Downton57]@Clawdy agree that the 'trying to get away from Craig' excuse for sending Shannon to the uncle's house doesn't make any sense.[/quote]
Were any of the other children Craig's? And what was her plan for them?

They were having parties together in their house, including during the search. I wouldn't be surprised if he were violent, but he seemed a bit to gormless to be the sort of cunning abuser he'd have to be for it to require an elaborate plan for escape.

I think looking for an elaborate explanation is a red herring. I don't think a more complex one than "money plus attention" is needed.

The youngest child was thought to have been Craig's ,but apparently a DNA test during the search ,( can't remember why they needed to be DNA tested ?) Revealed he wasent .

Also Karen was about ten years older than Craig , so she could have been the more dominant one .

From what I remember hearing at the time, she was certainly the dominant one.

She had 7 children by 5 men. Those poor kids

A piece of absolute trash. She sickens me. The search for her daughter cost over 3M, and she's probably never worked a day in her life.
I really hope Shannon is safe, supported and happy, and that she has been able to put this behind her to some degree.

I wonder if Shannon ever saw her mum and siblings again. I find it quite sad to think that she never got to say goodbye to her family. If you take Karen out of it, presumably there were people she loved and who loved her in that family.
Because it was so high profile there was no way she could keep any relationship with anyone she knew.
Also, how on earth would Shannon tip up in a new area in the care of a new family? Surely she was instantly recognisable.
I'm not sure on Karen's motivations. Very strange case.

And (sorry more to say) is it reasonable to expect a child of that age to keep their identity secret.
My daughter is 8, I don't know she would be able to do that.
I guess its a slow process, I'd hope with plenty of counselling. But of course some people must know who she is.

I imagine there’s lots of people who know who/where Shannon is, but there’s a lifetime ban on the media reporting anything about her life after the case.

I'm sure there are ,Shannon will be in her 20,s now ,kids change an awful lot between nine and adulthood it's possible she wouldn't be recognised .

Well her friend certainly changed A LOT from child to adulthood so yes hopefully the same has happened for Shannon.

@TheChosenTwo

Do you think she’s allowed any contact with her biological father? I didn’t watch the programme but remember seeing her dad appear at one of the many searches. I’ll say something though, that community effort, they were out all the time rallying support - totally misled and made a fool of. But not really, it just showed a wonderful group of people who really cared and wanted her to be found safe and well. I do hope that wherever those 7 children are now that they are settled in to loving families, they deserve it.

Watching the programme where her dad does an appeal - he was estranged from her, despite living round the corner, and looks like he couldn't have cared less she went missing. It was as if doing the appeal was an inconvenience for him. The most emotional thing He said in it "I'd like to see her again" she must have had so little love in her life poor baby

I'm sure she's not recognisable now. But at the time, when she turned up at a new school surely she would have been recognised. Imagine it at your child's school.
I wonder how long afterwards she was settled in with a new family and how they stopped the gossip going round that the new girl is Shannon Matthews.
Perhaps she had to move a few times. I think it must have been hard on her for a long time after the incident itself for many reasons, including being separated from her siblings and friends, perhaps without even saying goodbye.
The impact on her life must have been enormous. I hope she's safe and happy now.

Also re a PP's police friend airing his suspicions during the investigation - the few police officers I know are the opposite of discrete and this doesn't surprise me. I've had to tell a friend of mine to stop telling me stories about local criminals under investigation after I found out something about a colleague's mother (my friend didn't know I knew her son) and I said it makes me uncomfortable.

@QuimReaper

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.

I remember this, and I remember supporting the notion that there was classism at the heart of the public perception of both the Matthews family and the area in general (my dad was from Batley and it's as rough as it looks). I remember thinking people were only accusing Karen/the stepdad because they're poor, a bit rough and a bit simple...yet the McCanns, no matter what happened to Madeline, directly contributed to the disappearance of their daughter through bare faced neglect, but because they're posh and middle class they've received only support and understanding.

What a Wally I felt when the truth came out. As I staunchly never suspected a thing.

Is this a new programme?