'I want a lie detector test, a Big Mac and a life by the sea':
Kidnap mum Karen Matthews also claims 'several others' abducted Shannon
in bizarre rant on eve of release


By
Martin Robinson


PUBLISHED:

04:59 EST, 23 March 2012




UPDATED:

07:56 EST, 23 March 2012





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On the eve of her release from
jail, lying mother Karen Matthews says ‘several others’ were involved in
the abduction of her child four years ago, it was claimed today.Matthews,
who pretended daughter Shannon, nine, was missing for a month but
drugged and hid her under a bed, alleges she would be murdered if she
revealed who was behind the plot in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire.
Speaking
from Foston Hall Prison in Derbyshire, the 36-year-old says she is too
frightened to say who actually did it, claiming ‘they should be here,
not me’.In a bizarre rant
the mother of seven allegedly confided in a friend that all she wants
when she gets out is a lie detector test to prove her claims followed by
a Big Mac burger from McDonalds.
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Matthews is due for release before
Easter under a new name, after serving half her eight-year jail sentence
for kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.Her
accomplice Michael Donovan, 44, the uncle of her then boyfriend, is
believed to have been released this month after serving half of the same
sentence.

Friend and former
neighbour Julie Bushby has visited Matthews throughout her time in jail -
despite being conned by Matthews, like many others, into searching for
her child at the time - and has revealed her views in the Daily Mirror.


‘I won’t come clean about what I actually know about what happened because I’ve been threatened,’ Matthews told Ms Bushby.

‘When I get out I want a lie detector test to show I’m innocent – and a Big Mac.

‘There
are others who should be here instead of me but I was too scared to
open my mouth. They said they would kill me if I did. They should be
here, not me.’She added after that she will go to live by the ‘ocean’ under her new identity.

Matthews became a hate figure over the plot to abduct Shannon to claim a £50,000 reward.

Shown in tears on television, she said Shannon was gone but knew exactly where she was stashed.

She
has already undergone a ‘full makeover’ complete with a trendy new
hairstyle and is hoping she will not be recognised by the public when
she is back in the community.As a prisoner released on licence, Matthews is likely to begin her new life at a probation hostel.

She and Donovan caused a £3.2million police hunt when they kidnapped Shannon from her home in February 2008.

Matthews
appeared before the media pretending to be distraught at her daughter’s
disappearance and hundreds of local people helped in the search.But Shannon was found by police 24 days later in Donovan’s flat a mile away, hidden in a compartment under a divan.

While
in jail Matthews has been badly beaten by other inmates and was fired
from her cleaner’s job for snooping at confidential files.



Lies: Despite a national campaign to find her, Shannon was found by police hidden and drugged in the base of the divan bed


To avoid trouble from prisoners,
which include Baby P’s mother and Vanessa George, the nursery
paedophile, she spends her time watching daytime TV, doing art and
singing to herself in her en suite cell.Ms
Bushby, a former residents association chairman, told the Mirror that
she still does not believe Sharon is telling the truth but that the
original plot was not about the reward money.But since then she has been banned from going to visit by the West Yorkshire Probation service.

‘You
have been a great source of comfort to Karen during these difficult
years and I know that she has really appreciated it, and considers you
her only real friend,’ the letter says.


Jailed: Matthews is about to be released from Foston Hall prison, Derbyshire, pictured, after serving half her sentence


‘However, you, above all people will appreciate the need to ensure we do our level best to keep Karen... safe, upon her release.

‘Karen
will be expected to abide by a number of very strict conditions on her
release. Not because we are punishing her, but because of the public who
consider her a legitimate target for their own anger.‘Any
restrictions placed on Karen have come about after long-term planning
and approval from the highest sources within the Home Office.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2119151/Kidnap-mum-Karen-Matthews-claims-abducted-Shannon-bizarre-rant.html#ixzz1px6c5xy5