Mother arrested in Shannon kidnap inquiry

LONDON (Reuters) - Detectives investigating the disappearance of Yorkshire schoolgirl Shannon Matthews have arrested her mother, police sources said.

Karen Matthews, 32, was detained in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on Sunday on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

The disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon in February sparked a huge search before she was found safe and well 24 days later.

"Detectives investigating the alleged abduction of a nine-year-old girl in Dewsbury in February 2008 have arrested a 32-year-old woman in Dewsbury," a police statement said without elaborating.

Police sources later confirmed it was the mother.

Michael Donovan, the 39-year-old uncle of the girl's stepfather, has been charged with abduction and imprisonment in the case.

He was taken to hospital on Sunday after a case of "serious self harm", a Ministry of Justice source said, but has since returned to Leeds prison.

Shannon Matthews was discovered in the base of a bed at a house about a mile from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, after going missing following a school swimming trip.

Two other members of her stepfather's family were released on police bail on Saturday pending further investigations.