Shannon suspect charged
2008-03-18 09:10
London - A 39-year-old man has been charged with the abduction of a nine-year-old girl found alive after having disappeared for three weeks, British prosecutors said on Monday.
Michael Donovan will appear before Dewsbury Magistrate's Court on Tuesday charged with the kidnap and false imprisonment of Shannon Matthews, who was discovered concealed in the base of a bed.
"Having carefully considered all of the material ... we have made the decision that there is sufficient evidence and have authorised that Michael Donovan should be charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment," said Peter Mann, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service's West and North Yorkshire Complex Case unit.
She went missing on February 19 after a school swimming trip in Dewsbury, near Leeds, northern England, triggering a huge police investigation amid growing fears she may have been killed.
The schoolgirl, whose picture has been plastered in the media for the last three weeks, was found in a flat in Batley Carr, a short distance from her home.
- AFP