Shannon Watch: Mick Donovan, Good Neighbours And A Brain Tumour
SHANNON WATCH: – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Shannon Matthews
DAILY STAR (front page): “SHANNON: WAS MUM IN ON SNATCH?”
Pages 4 and 5: “’IT WAS ALL FAMILY SCAM’”
So says the man “suspected” of abducting Shannon, “allegedly”.
Such are the facts.
THE SUN (front page): “STALKER – Weirdo’s months watching..from next door”
The Sun “can reveal” that Mick Donovan visited one Amanda Hyett “up to four times a week to ‘comfort’ her after her father died”. Hyett is Shannon’s aunt. Hyett is Donovan’s niece.
“It is now thought Donovan…was secretly watching the schoolgirl.”
Thought? Indeed. So says the Sun’s “SHANNON EXCLUSIVE”.
Pages 4 and 5: “I’ll kill my kids”
Donovan “threatened to kill his won daughters after barricading himself into his house with them”.
Donovan is “crazed”. Donovan is a “toothless misfit”. A neighbour called Hayeley Brown says Donovan is a “real weirdo”.
“The mum of four told how a brain tumour had left him with a limp. She said: ‘His arm was a bit a paralysed as well. That and the limp and this big horrible eyes made him look a bit weird, bit pervy.”
What more evidence do you need?
DAILY MIRROR (front page): “SHANNON MAN: NEW ABUSE QUIZ”
“Mick Donovan is said to have made the brothers, aged six and 12, fondle each other.” Allegations. Unproven.
Page 5: “SHANNON DIDN’T KNOW SHE HAD BEEN ABDUCTED”
Of Shannon: “It I believed that so far no evidence of sexual abuse has been discovered…”
Believed? But the police are not releasing any information. Shannon Matthews is still being questioned. So too Mick Donovan.
“Donovan’s family flee in shame” – “Craig Meehan’s family last night were in hiding in shame that one of them was linked to Shannon’s disappearance.”
Surely this should reads: “Mick Donovan’s family…” Why mention Craig Meehan, Shannon’s stepfather?
DAILY EXPRESS (front page): “Parents knew Shannon was with me, says loner”
Pages 6 and 7: “Now Shannon’s parents face police quiz”
The Express sees a conspiracy. If only Karen Matthews can be made to testify at the Princess Diana inquiry. You never know…
But who tipped off the police? Who gets the Sun’s reward?
Family friend Ryan Baynes said he contacted West Yorkshire police to tell them about how Donovan had bounced Shannon on his knee at a family funeral.
He was told repeatedly: “We’re looking into it.”
Neighbours of Donovan in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr – a mile from Shannon’s home – claimed they contacted police expressing their concerns.
Melvyn Glew said he phoned them three weeks ago telling of his worries about his “weirdo neighbour” but heard nothing.
Chief Superintendent Barry South said: “If anyone had pointed us to a house and said that Shannon was in there, we would have been in there in seconds.”
He added: “People crawling out of the woodwork and making accusations were hampering the case and Shannon’s welfare.
“This is about getting Shannon, the family and the community back to normality. A lot of things going on out there are distracting from that.”
“Loner who chose name of soap ‘idol’”
Michael Donovan, 39, described as a “weird loner”, was born Paul Drake but changed his name to Mick Donovan.
Drake “developed a strange fascination for the celebrity Jason Donovan…it is believed he changed his name after being overcome by the Scott and Charlene wedding episode in 1988 featuring Donovan and Kylie Minogue.”
It gets better:
“However he was worried that calling himself Jason would leave him open to ridicule so he plumped for Michael.”
And not Kylie…
“He is 39 – same as the sop star…”
Jason Donovan is innocent.
DAILY MAIL (front page): “THE SUFFERING OF SHANNON”
Disturbing details of Shannon Matthews’s 24-day ordeal began to emerge last night. Police were coaxing out an account from the nine-year-old which is thought to have confirmed their fears about how she was treated.
Karen Matthews is a “mother of seven”
Disturbing, indeed. But that we already knew…
Pages 6 and 7: “What happened to you, Shannon?”
Good question. Shannon?
Suspect’s sister: “We thought he was gay”
Friendless, reclusive and taciturn, Mick Donovan fulfils many of the criteria for a neighbourhood oddball.
Susan Redshaw, 53, was largely responsible for bringing up her younger brother at the family home in Dewsbury. She knows him by his former name of Paul Drake.
She said: “To be honest he was always very weird. He never really said anything and he never had a girlfriend or any real friends. We all thought he was gay when he was younger. He was what I call a dreamer – someone who never really knew what he was doing in life.”
THE Melanie Philips Column: “Why Shannon is one more victim of the folly of ‘lifestyle choice’”
Is child abduction a lifestyle choice? Or a calling?
THE INDEPENDENT: “Police believe Shannon was not harmed during ordeal”
Police investigating the apparent abduction of Shannon Matthews are said to be “cautiously optimistic” that she was not harmed during her 24-day disappearance.
THE TIMES: “‘Shannon Matthews had not run away from home. This was a real abduction’
Police interviewing Shannon Matthews are certain that she was kidnapped and held captive during her 24 missing days. The nine-year-old’s story, which is slowly unfolding over several days of specialist questioning, has satisfied detectives that they are dealing with a genuine case of abduction…
Police insiders have also poured scorn on a theory that Shannon’s disappearance was a hoax staged by one or more members of her family in the hope of gaining the reward money offered for her safe return.
“Don’t be in any doubt. This is an incredibly serious case,” a police source told The Times.
Anyone tell the Express?
The Times understands that several people who formed part of Shannon’s extended family had criminal convictions for a wide variety of offences, some of them – but not Mr Donovan – for sex crimes involving children.
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Shannon’s complex family tree held up police”
“Officers were trawling through Shannon’s complex family tree when they received information that led them to the flat of Michael Donovan – Mr Meehan’s uncle.
Mr Donovan’s two daughters, aged 10 and 12, were in care and he lived alone, although he had no convictions for sexual offences. Mr Donovan’s ex-wife Sue Bird has six children by three fathers.
A senior police source said: “We would have got to Donovan eventually but someone we spoke to told us something that pushed him up the list.”
Who? who gets the reward?
Posted: 17th, March 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (213) | TrackBack | Permalink
