A MOTHER who faked the kidnap of her own daughter was today jailed for eight years.
A MOTHER who faked the kidnap of her own daughter was today jailed for eight years.
The country rejoiced last February when Shannon Matthews, nine, was found safe and well after she had been missing for 24 days.
But it later emerged that mum Karen, 33, and uncle Michael Donovan, 40, had hatched a plan to imprison Shannon in the latter's home and later claim a �50,000 reward on offer for her safe return.
The police operation which was launched in a bid to find Shannon cost �3.2 million.
Matthews, 33, of Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor in West Yorkshire, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court after being found guilty last month of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
Donovan, of Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, who was convicted of the same offences, was also jailed for eight years.
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