Karen Matthews, the mother of nine-year-old Shannon, has been convicted of kidnapping her own daughter.

Matthews, 33, and her co-accused Michael Donovan, 40, were found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
The trial at Leeds Crown Court heard tat Mathews and Donovan kept Shannon "drugged, subdued and hidden from the public" so they could claim £50,000 in reward money. Shannon was held at Donovan's flat in Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, for 24 days.

The judge warned them that they face "substantial" jail terms when they are sentenced later.

 

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The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that two British men should not have had their DNA and fingerprints retained by police.
DNA swabs and fingerprints were taken and held by South Yorkshire Police, although neither man was later convicted of any offence.

The judgement  by 17 senior judges from across Europe could have major implications on how DNA records are stored in the UK's national database.
Under present laws, the DNA profiles of everyone arrested for a recordable offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are kept on the database, regardless of whether they are charged or convicted.

Democratic Society?
The judges said keeping the information "could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society".
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was "disappointed" by the European Court of Human Rights' decision.
The database may now have to be scaled back following the unanimous verdict.

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Jacqui Smith has come under attack about the police raid on Tory MP Damian Green's Parliamentary Office.

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In the past three years Portugal has seen a 500 percent increase in the use of renewable energies, including wind and the world's largest solar and ocean wave power systems.

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As every Harry Potter fanatic will tell you, 'The Tales of Beedle The Bard' played a key role in the conclusion of the Deathly Hallows. Professor Dumbledore bequeathed this collection of fairy tales compiled by a 15th-century bard to Hermoine, with the hope that she would find it "entertaining and instructive". Later she reads out from it "The Tale of the Three Brothers", a fable about what happens to those who try to cheat Death.

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The death toll from cholera in Zimbabwe rose to 565 on Wednesday, with 12,546 cases of the acute intestinal disease reported nationwide, the United Nations said.

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A new advertising campaign has been launched to alert teenagers to danger of cocaine.

The advertisement is attention grabbing with a dead character called 'Pablo' meeting various people in the cocaine chain of supply.

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