Shannon 'was crying' when found

3:25pm Tuesday 18th November 2008

One of the police officers who found Shannon Matthews has told her mother's trial that the little girl was frightened and crying when she emerged from the bed where she was hidden.

DC Paul Kettlewell told a jury at Leeds Crown Court that they were searching Michael Donovan's flat in Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, when they heard a child's voice.

He said the voice said: "Stop it, you're frightening me."

The officer went on: "Then I went into the bedroom. My colleague turned towards me and, as I was beginning to think perhaps the voice came from inside the bed, there was a noise inside the bed as a small girl started to emerge."

He described how other officers passed the nine-year-old to him.

He told the court: "She was frightened and she was crying."

Donovan, 40, and Shannon's mother Karen Matthews, 33, both deny kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.

DC Kettlewell described how officers forced their way into the flat after no-one answered the door but neighbours assured them Donovan was inside.