Topic: Little Shannon Matthews FOUND ALIVE & WELL

[SamLouise]

I know it's not A4A related but it's SUCH good news that I can't help myself  ;D ;D ;D
Haven't we all been fearing the worst for the past three weeks?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1309334,00.html

[Tin Shed]

What good news - I wonder where she was.

[DenBee]

From watching BBC 24 news channel, it seems that she has been with her paternal grandparents.  Very sad that family relationships can break down to the extent that this kind of thing happens.

[lorna]

Thank goodness she has been found. Seems a few questions should be asked but unless we know the truth difficult to understand. Hope that her future is a happy one.

[Paulines7]

From watching BBC 24 news channel, it seems that she has been with her paternal grandparents.  Very sad that family relationships can break down to the extent that this kind of thing happens.

This was incorrect information that was given out.  She was found living with a 39 year old man who has been arrested.  She knew the man but it is unclear whether he is a relative.   She was found in the base of a divan bed. 

[DenBee]

I'm sure there'll be lots of mis-information about it all yet to come.

I'm pleased she's safe now.   :)

[paddy]

Good news indeed!
A great way to end a hard week.

[SamLouise]

There's always been something fishy about this story as far as I'm concered and I'm sure the truth will out but for now, it's just such fantastic news that this little girl has turned up alive.  As Paddy says, what a great way to end this week  :D :D

[star]

She is one lucky little girl. Fabulous news that she has been found.........I hope she wasn't harmed by him.

[keef]

Very good news indeed! although the press coverage seems a little crude as usual...

However some ITV footage tonight made me chuckle, as the news was breaking camera's just happened to be at the community house.... well one of the friends was on the phone and said, "Its going round Asda, its got to be true!".

[wiltshire lass]

i am glad she has been found alive .
more so that i hope to god that she has been found well ......
after 24 days  i regret to say i would be very surprised if she was weel

[ACE]

Keeping it in the family by all accounts. I was always amazed at some of the comments made by the mother. Don't get me wrong, I am glad the little one has been found, but we have not heard the end of this disfunctional family.

[cornykev]

I'm with you on this one Sam, something doesn't quite add up here, Shannon has been put in care over the weekend ? surely this is not the normal procedere, please correct me if I'm wrong.  ??? ???    ;D ;D ;D

[redimp]

I child can be placed in care if a court is satisfied that:
    * The child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm; and
    * That the harm or likelihood of harm is attributable to a lack of adequate parental care or control.
I do not want to read to much into it in this case.  The person who is arrested is a family member so the police/social services may want to be satisfied that it goes no further than the step-uncle before allowing her back with the family.  There may also have been other separate issues that came to light during the course of the investigation but as yet, there is no evidence of this.  The one thing that needs to be remembered is that the child's interests are absolutely paramount in all this so it may just be a case of putting minds at rest and interviewing to child about events.

[Just Vegging Out]

Something doesn't add up here.  The Police must have really strong grounds to put the little girl into care - because surely after being abducted and hidden in a divan base for 24 days - the sooner they reunited the child with its mother the better, or am I wrong?  Step-Uncle or not, something is very amiss here.  If a child is abducted they arrest the abductor, but they don't usually take the child away from the mother as well.  Am I being nasty when I say the mother's friend seemed very keen on talking about the Shannon Fund and that if I am honest, I have doubts about this as well?

Thank God she is alive and well.

[SamLouise]

JVO, police protection orders can be put into place for a number of reasons and I'm not sure the public will ever find outhe WHOLE truth of why it was done.  It's a fairly common practice with young at risk children (but not exclusive to - it's also done for witnesses etc) 

One theory my husband and I have been discussing is maybe Shannon wasn't abducted in the sense that we all think?  Was she in fact hiding in the bed as opposed to being put in there?  The man she was with was said to have left the flat a number of times and left her there alone but no reports of screams or attempted escapes? (But I realise he may have threatened her in some way to make her stay quiet and to keep put) Has she told the police something tragic about her immediate family that's made them want to protect her for the next seven days?

Well, you know how we Brits love to speculate on things like this, LOL.  But there's definitely something wrong with this story and the family interviews over the past couple of weeks did nothing but raise my suspicions.

But ... she's been found alive and let's hope she will go on to lead a very happy life once this is over for her.

[lorna]

Agree Sam, lets hope the future is brighter for her and she manages with help to put  this all behind her.