Shannon's mother appears in court

Published: April 9, 2008 at 1:56 PM

DEWSBURY, England, April 9 (UPI) -- The mother of Shannon Matthews made a brief court appearance Wednesday in northern England, where a magistrate ordered that she remain jailed.

Karen Matthews was formally charged Tuesday with neglecting and abusing her 9-year-old daughter and with perverting the course of justice. She allegedly faked her daughter's kidnapping, police said.

After the charges were read out, a magistrate in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, remanded her for at least a week, The Times of London reported.

Shannon's alleged abduction set off a massive search that officials say cost at least a million pounds ($2 million) in police overtime alone, the BBC reported. She was found 24 days later at the home of an uncle of Karen Matthews' partner.

Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the parents of missing 4-year-old Madeleine McCann, said that requests for money from people claiming to be Shannon's relatives had come to a fund set up by the McCanns. He said that one was made by an unnamed "aggressive man," the Times said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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