Michael Donovan, who orchestrated the fake kidnapping of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews with her mother Karen Matthews in 2008, has died aged 54. West Yorkshire Police confirmed they were contacted on Tuesday 16 April about the death of a man in hospital in the Steeton area. The death is not being treated as suspicious and enquiries will be conducted on behalf of the coroner. The Press Association reported Donovan collapsed at a mental health unit.
Shannon went missing on 19 February 2008 as she walked home from school in Dewsbury Moor, sparking one of the largest searches ever conducted by West Yorkshire Police. Her mother issued an emotional appeal as more than 300 officers joined the hunt. However, Shannon was found 24 days later in a bed drawer at Donovan's flat in nearby Batley Carr, having been drugged and restrained with a homemade leash.
Prosecutors at Leeds Crown Court said Donovan and Matthews staged the kidnap to claim a £50,000 reward. The judge, Mr Justice McCombie, called their actions "despicable" and noted their "low intellect", suggesting others may have been involved, but police found no evidence. Both were jailed for kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
Donovan was released from prison in 2012 but was reportedly recalled later that year for breaching parole conditions. The Ministry of Justice said their involvement with him ended in 2016 when his sentence expired. The police investigation cost £3.2 million, and the case was dramatised in the 2017 BBC mini-series The Moorside.
