Shannon's mother remanded in custody over 'abduction' and put on suicide watch

Karen Matthews is led from the police station in handcuffs before going to court

Karen Matthews, 32, was remanded until April 16 after she was charged with perverting the course of justice and child neglect last night.

She is accused of neglecting or abandoning Shannon, as well as repeatedly lying to police officers searching for her daughter by pretending she knew nothing about where she was.

The mother-of-seven told friends before her arrest on Sunday that she fears she will never see her again and is thought to be on suicide watch.

When district judge Jonathan Bennett told the mother-of-seven he was not giving her bail today, there were shouts of "yes" from the public gallery.

The court was told that the first charge against her claims she "wilfully neglected or abandoned the said child in a manner likely to cause suffering... or injury to her health" between February 18 and March 15.

A second charge accuses her of "a series of acts which had the tendency to pervert the course of public justice in that you repeatedly concealed information in relation to the whereabouts of Shannon Matthews in interviews and other contacts with officers with the West Yorkshire Police and claimed to have no knowledge of her whereabouts."

As they were read out at Dewsbury Magistrates Court, Matthews stood with her eyes fixed on the district judge.

Wearing a blue sweatshirt and with her red hair combed down to cover part of her face, she stood flanked by four dock officers during the short, 13-minute hearing.

Neighbours, police, lawyers and court officials had poured into the court moments earlier to see her led in in handcuffs.

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Family and neighbours of Karen Matthews, including Amanda Hyett (third from left) turn up to support the mother of seven who appeared at Dewsbury Magistrates Court today

A huge police presence waited outside court where Karen Matthews appeared on charges of child neglect and perverting the course of justice

It was only at the end, when she was remanded in custody and several people exclaimed "yes" that her eyes flicked across to look at the public gallery.

More than a dozen officers were on duty outside court after the hearing as Matthews was taken away from court.

Her neighbours from Moorside Road linked arms and stood in a row of silence while they waited for the police van to leave.

The line-up included friend Petra Jamieson, Neil Hyett - Shannon's uncle and next-door neighbour - and his wife, Amanda.

She was arrested last week in connection with an the Shannon inquiry and is currently on police bail.

Contractors later began boarding up Matthews's semi-detached council house in Dewsbury Moor.

The move came as police distributed leaflets across the estate, warning residents not to take matters into their own hands.

Matthews is now due to appear at Leeds Crown Court via videolink next Wednesday.

She reported Shannon missing on February 19 when she vanished after a school swimming trip and failed to return home.

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Karen Matthews was questioned for two days on suspicion of perverting the course of justice before she was charged

Boarded up: Workmen put metal plates over the doors and windows of Karen Matthews' house, which was watched by a police guard this afternoon

More than 300 officers took part in a desperate search for the schoolgirl, who was eventually found alive 24 days later in a flat less than a mile from her Dewsbury home.

She is currently being looked after by foster parents and three of Matthews' other children were placed in care last week.

The 32-year-old was then arrested on Sunday evening, seven weeks after Shannon's disappearance, before being charged last night after lengthy questioning by police.

She was placed on suicide watch after being charged.

Shannon was missing for 24 days before she was found just a mile from her home

Michael Donovan, 39, the uncle of her partner Craig Meehan, was charged with kidnap and false imprisonment after being found alongside Shannon in the base of a bed in his flat.

Police have refused to rule out further arrests as the Crown Prosecution Service announced details of the charges against Matthews.

The most serious charge of perverting the course of justice carries a maximum life term, although ten years is the longest sentence passed down in the past 100 years.

Days before her arrest, Matthews told a friend of her fears about not seeing her children again. The criminal charges are certain to have heightened her concerns.

The children she was living with when Shannon went missing are all now being looked after by social services.

As well as Shannon, the others are aged 11, five and two.

If Matthews is convicted and receives a lengthy jail term, the family could be broken up forever.

The children are likely to be placed with foster parents.

Social workers will consider the emotional disruption to their lives as well as the suitability of Matthews as a mother if in future she applies to see them again or hopes to regain custody.

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Shredded: Neighbours of the Matthews' family tear up 'missing' posters after Shannon was found alive. Feelings on the estate are now said to be running high

Matthews has had seven children from five fathers. Their latest stepfather, Craig Meehan, has been charged with possessing indecent images of children.

Last night's charges came as neighbours who searched day and night for Shannon spoke of their fury at the accusation she was somehow involved.

A close neighbour who did not want to be named said: "She won't last an hour if she comes back here.

"I gave up work to search for Shannon. This is a hard and unforgiving estate and she'll be stomped on if she ever returns."

Up to four police officers are guarding her empty home. There have been threats to attack it, while Matthews has received death threats since her arrest.

Even Matthews's parents have deserted her and refused a police request to let her move in with them before her arrest.

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Shannon Matthews' stepfather Craig Meehan as he was led away by police last week

Mr Hyett was confronted and verbally abused yesterday as he took his children to school amid a fierce backlash against the family circle.

His wife Amanda was arrested last week by detectives after her fingerprints were found on a £20 note in the flat where Shannon was found.

Mrs Hyett, who was held on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been released on bail but was again spoken to by detectives yesterday.

Her husband claimed that they had done nothing wrong and insisted: "The truth will come out."

The investigation took another turn when Meehan's mother Alice, 49, and sister were arrested and bailed in connection with Shannon's disappearance.

Finally, Matthews was held on Sunday for perverting the course of justice after breaking down in front of a police family liaison officer.

Meanwhile, detectives are investigating reports that someone claiming to be connected to the family of Shannon Matthews asked for money from the fund set up to help find missing Madeleine McCann.

McCann family spokesman-Clarence Mitchell said they had received two or three requests from people claiming to be members of the Matthews family.

He added: "All I can say is that an approach was made on two or three occasions by an individual who appeared to be associated with the family.

"The man concerned was aggressive and seemed to be asking for money for the Shannon fund along the line of, 'You have money, we don't, can we have some of yours?'

"An illiterate request also came in by e-mail and that too was rejected because of the way it was done as it raised our suspicions."

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