Shannon stepdad held over indecent pics

[LMH]

Shannon Stepdad Held Over Indecent Pics

Updated:12:05, Wednesday April 02, 2008 Sky News

The stepfather of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.

Stepdad Craig MeehanCraig Meehan was detained after West Yorkshire Police examined a number of computers during the search for the nine-year-old, who went missing for nearly four weeks.

The 22-year-old fishmonger is currently being questioned by detectives.

Sky News correspondent Gerard Tubb said: "The photographs are not of Shannon and the allegations that Craig Meehan downloaded the photographs are not connected to the disappearance of Shannon."

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

My first thought on that was wondering what was happening at home to her. Was that the reason she left and was hiding.

 

[LMH]

Did you see the Chanel 4 documentary which was shown a couple of weeks ago? The family was shadowed by the camera crew.

Lisa

 

[ShadySadie]

Should we not leave this sorry subject for the police and courts to resolve?

If the poor young girl has been subject to any horrors it would be a shame if a fair trial was prejudiced due to speculative talk by the public.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Fair point Sadie but as long as nobody tells their Lordships or the jury of the deliberations of the PC Forum membership I'm sure their quest for justice and the right verdict wont be swayed by us ;O)

 

[ShadySadie]

I meant in a wider context than this forum LordB.

I feel that to much is put in the press at times and discussed publicly.

God forbid that a guilty party in a case such as this got off as their case was prejudiced by wide public debate.

 

[LMH]

Sadie

I hardly think a fair trial will be prejudiced due to speculative talk by the public on a caravan forum.

What I'd like to know is, if the mother is not married to Craig Meehan how can he be called the stepfather? Or is he married to her?

Says a lot for the mother when she calls two of her children 'twins' simply because they have the same father.

Lisa

 

[ShadySadie]

Yes I agree Lisa, but did put "I meant in a wider context than this forum LordB"

For obvious reasons this has been a high profile case.

Chat on one caravan forum may not make a difference but if the press keep on the case and it becomes every day chit chat and speculation, some smart barrister may claim that a fair trial can't be held or the person has already been tried in public.

I'm with you on the "stepfather" score, but these days it seems that a mother or father in single parent homes is just the person in bed with your the blood parent!

 

[LMH]

The press will be over the moon with this latest event.

I haven't bought a newspaper since 2002.

Lisa

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Valerie - I can fully understand your comments and admire you for raising a respectful family as a single parent. Unfortunately the media very rarely reports on people such as you for raising and educating your children whilst being a single mum. The general media coverage is for the single parent fraternity who don't give a hoot about society, sleep around and produce children of differing fathers and scrounge as much as possible from the respectable society and offer their children little form of leadership, education, etc. I don't think the post was about your form of parentage, I think it was related to the lower form of family life that society now classes as normal - your approach to family life, respect and education is the exception and very rarely reported upon by the media as it is considered by them as not good money earning reporting for the press. This country needs more parents like you, whether they be married or not, just to raise a true and honest family with respect, eduaction and kindness.

 

[ThePlotter]

Where I live all the houses are privately owned except one that bought and let for easy rent income from housing benefit.Living there is a woman I wont call her a lady as she has 15 yes 15 kids by more than 10 different fathers,she has a constant stream of new 'boyfriends'who she fleeces and then kicks them out resulting in her car being,torched ot windows broken etc all the kids are asbo in the making anf many of her friends have or are doing time.She clearly has no pride as the house is wrecked but she drives around in a 2 litre Rover and chain smokes and has never worked in her life.To top it all she moved (or was moved)here from 15 mile away and the council now provide a taxi to take the kids to school by where she used to live!

These sort of people excist and the similarities with the Dewsbury family are frightening.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

She wouldn't need to work with 15 kids Plotts. One immigrant doctor from Pakistan finished work because he got more for his kids & wife in social handouts than he could working. He even has enough left over to run his own religion based political party.

 

[ThePlotter]

Your right LB the level of benefits she gets must be mind blowing,but even though she constantly co habits and she gets reported the powers that be seem to do nothing,two years ago one toddler fell out of a bedroom window as a result we had the air ambulance at the bottom of our garden,road ambulance and loads of police the reason,the kids were left on their own it took over an hour for her to be located.She then put on the upset mom act even though it was mid afternoon and she was done up to the nines and shoeless cant imagine what she had been doing!!!

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Pity theres no kind of law where those types could, through the courts, be forcibly steralised.

 

[gypsy]

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Dawn_374339603]

My thoughts exactly.

Or just stop all the benefits and maybe they would think twice about having so many kids and neglecting them

 

[rayc]

Sadie said "Should we not leave this sorry subject for the police and courts to resolve?

If the poor young girl has been subject to any horrors it would be a shame if a fair trial was prejudiced due to speculative talk by the public"

What isn't speculative is that Shannon's mother has had 7 children by 5 different fathers. I don't know what effect this has had on the older children as more men have come into their lives, perhaps none, perhaps it has been traumatic or perhaps enlightening. An extended 'family' may be a good thing or not but I have my reservations.

One thing for sure, going back to a now closed subject, is that I believe that a child brought up by two loving lesbians would have a better chance in life than Shannon and her siblings.

 

[Charles_374240409]

I agree with you Sadie. I accept it doesn't look good as far as the stepfather and some other members of the family are concerned and as I write it's just been announced that another two have been arrested in connection with the affair, but it is for police and courts and juries to decide their guilt and not some tabloid newspaper. Have they forgotten what happened in the McCann case where all sorts of nonsense was drip fed and printed, and and ultimately it cost them dearly not to mention being forced to apoligise publicly.

As for the single parent - oh what easy targets they are. Yes, there are some who appear to have no respect for society or themselves, but are also plenty of 'stable' couples who live just the same way but they don't attract the same criticism. And please, those of you who are so quick to decry them, remember not all single parents started off as single parents, and found themselves in that situation through no fault of their own, and that could easily apply to any of us. A single parent isn't necessary a bad person any more than a married person is a good one.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Thank you Charles,

- For putting the situation into some kind of perspective.

Yes - the papers should be far more restrained and limited to printing proven facts rather than speculation that certainly can prejudice peoples views.

I guess that none of us know all the relevant the circumstances surrounding this case, and therefore who are we to judge the fitness of a parent to bring up a child or children without factual information on which to base our discussion.

I echo the call that any discussion should be restrained to prevent prejudice and it certainly must be limited to facts not speculation.

 

[gary]

I'd love to agree with the last two comments but everyone has a right to think what they want, of course this is based on what is reported?

I've one first hand (nearly) experience of a young girl from a similar background going missing and for possibly similar reasons.

Given that passed experience, all I can say is I'm thankful the police kept Shannon in their care rather than delivering her straight back to what she may well have been running away from?

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

To a certain extent I agree with Charles, tabloids do speculate, but but I disagree with him on another. Sadies point wasn't about the tabloids, it was about discussing it on this forum.

I agree with gary, people should have the right to discuss it, whether in their homes, in the street or on forums like this. It is hardly likely to sway a jurors decision because they had read peoples thoughts in the PC forum. We already live in an highly controlled, nanny state country without people wishing to control our thoughts.

What is fact is the girls mother has 7 children by five fathers, is that acting as a responsible adult, I think not which makes me wonder how responsible a parent she was.

Please note, I said think although I typed out my thought. At the moment the authorities or those who wish to cannot control thought :O)

 

[rayc]

It is of course unrealistic to expect this subject not to be widely discussed given the extensive publicity it has recieved. I cannot see that anything that forum member have to say on the subject will influence the outcome of any trials and in any event those nearest e.g 'family' and 'friends' seem quite happy to speak to the press.

The story being reported today is that Shannon is refusing to return to her Mother and wants to live with her Father and Step-Mother.

As LB has said there has to be freedom of speech and unless postings contain offensive remarks, then surely this is what this section of the forum is all about.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Oh dear, now Shannons mother has been arrested. It seems they are all related and inter-bred, why not round the whole lot up :O(

I suppose they are Britains answer to the American rednecks.

 

[BeemerMal]

Who knows......It would'nt suprise me if once everything comes out in the open that it was a planned abduction with the family looking for a McCann type fund that they could sponge off.

 

[ValA.]

That was our feeling, almost from the very beginning - and now other family members are involved, it makes you wonder. Poor little Shannon - let's hope she gets over all this - no wonder she wanted to go and live with her Dad!