"I've never heard her say she's sorry

In 2008, schoolgirl Shannon Matthews' disappearance gripped the nation. Neighbour Julie Bushby tells us how the community was duped

- WORDS: SANJEETA BAINS

Julie Bushby watched on, her heart breaking for her friend and neighbour Karen Matthews as she stood outside her home on the Moorside estate in West Yorkshire, pleading for the return of her "beautiful princess daughter" Shannon.

"I thought she was the same as me - a mum who was trying her best," she says.

But later, Julie came to realise she was "used and abused" as part of a twisted plan concocted by Karen.

The search for missing nine-year-old Shannon Matthews became the biggest missing person's investigation ever undertaken by West Yorkshire Police.

"I'd do anything for my children - if it were me, it'd feel like having my heart ripped out," says Julie, now 54, looking back on the awful events that began on 19 February 2008.

The story was every mother's worst nightmare, but became darker than anybody could have imagined. For 24 days, Karen played the victim, while mum-of-three Julie put all her efforts into leading the community search for Shannon. She helped organise a candlelit vigil, and printed T-shirts and flyers.

The dreadful truth was Karen had plotted the kidnapping of her own daughter in a case that shocked and appalled the nation. All along, Karen knew Shannon was being held in a dingy flat less than a mile from the house where she made her fake pleas.

Julie says that although time has healed the feelings of being "used and abused" by Karen, she remains bewildered that "any mother could do that to their own child".

Shannon had been kidnapped by Michael Donovan, the uncle of Karen's boyfriend, Craig Meehan. Their plan was to eventually release Shannon, have Donovan "find" her and claim the reward money.

Shannon had been given sedatives to keep her quiet. Hair samples showed she'd been systematically drugged over a period dating back 20 months.