IN THE CROWN COURT

Sitting at LEEDS

Leeds Combined Court


Before :

Mr Justice McCombe

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REGINA

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MICHAEL DONOVAN AND KAREN

MATTHEWS

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I would like to presenting a case brief between Regina (plaintiff) and Michael Donovan and Karen
Matthews (defendants) from year 2009. It is case dealing with kidnapping, false imprisonment and
doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of reports. The case has given rise to an
enourmous amount of publicity in the media and has been the subject of public comment there and by
the police.

The facts of the case are as follows: the offences were committed between 19 February and 14 March
2008. Defendants were take away Shannon Matthews (the 9 years old daughter of the defendant
Matthews). After that defendant Matthews made a false report to the police that Shannon was Missing
and defandant continued to assert that her daughter had genuinely gone missing. Shannon was after
school take away to the defendant Donovan’s flat and there she was for 24 days.

Shannon was also drugged with the adult sedative temazepam and with the travel sickness preparation
called „Traveleze“ – this drugs induces drowsiness and lethargy.

         The question raised by the case is whether defendants had some psychical problems. The
report prepared on defendant Matthew was helpful to the court because of a difficult past (growing
up in big family, few education,..).

Defendant Donovan has had medical problems, including episodes of depressive illness and physical
illness called distonia. Dovonan’s report was also helpful for the same reasons as Matthew.

         The court ruled that in each of cases defendants was sentenced to total terms of
imprisonment of 8 years. This was made up in each case of a sentence os 6 years imprisonment on
cout 1 for kidnapping, 3 years imprisonment on cout 2 for false imprisonment, to be served
concurrently, and 2 years imprisonment on count 3, for doing act tending to and intendent to pervet
the course of justice to be served consecutively to the sentences passed on the other two counts.