A man will appear in court today accused of snatching Shannon Matthews and holding her captive in his flat.

Michael Donovan, also known as Paul Drake, was charged last night with the kidnapping and false imprisonment of the nine-year-old girl, who was found by police 24 days after she disappeared on her way home from school.

Mr Donovan, 39, the uncle of Shannon’s stepfather, is due to appear before magistrates in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, this morning.

He was arrested last Friday after detectives broke down the door of a first-floor flat in Batley Carr, less than a mile from the schoolgirl’s home on the Dewsbury Moor council estate.

Shannon, who was found hidden in the base of a divan bed, has spent the past four days in the care of specialist officers who have been gently questioning her about her ordeal.

The two detectives who found her were praised highly yesterday by their chief constable as he launched a passionate defence of his force’s handling of the investigation.

Sir Norman Bettison, head of the West Yorkshire force, said that Shannon was recovered safe and well because of the professionalism of an inquiry whose scale had been “phenomenal and unprecedented”.

Particular praise was reserved for detective constables Paul Kettlewell and Nick Townsend, the officers who played a key role in Shannon’s rescue.

When they were asked to visit the Batley Carr home, the two detectives had already carried out 700 separate “actions” – attempts to trace and eliminate suspects – over the 24 days of the inquiry.

Sir Norman said he was proud that the detectives, after receiving no reply when they knocked on the door, decided to question neighbours, as a result of which they learnt that “the pitter-patter of a girl’s footsteps” had been heard in the first-floor flat.

Keeping the property under surveillance, they called for support from officers with door-forcing equipment, then broke down the door, searched the flat and rescued Shannon.

The chief constable said that the child, who has been under an emergency police protection order and has not yet been reunited with her mother, 32-year-old Karen Matthews, was “in safe and caring hands”.

“Shannon is in the place where she is the safest at the moment. She is away from the flashing lenses and the glare of publicity.

“She’s also in the position where we can continue to speak to her over the days that follow.”

Sir Norman emphasised that the process of interviewing a nine-year-old “is not a question of sitting them down with a pen and piece of paper”.

“It’s been 10-minute and 15-minute slots at a time, while we have been building up the information, the evidence that we need in order to take this investigation forward.”

The charges against Mr Donovan were announced last night by Peter Mann, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s West Yorkshire complex case unit. He told a press conference: “The Crown Prosecution Service has been working closely with the police in connection with this case since the arrest of Michael Donovan, also known as Paul Drake, last Friday.

“As the case has developed we have been carefully examining and assessing all the evidence in order to come to a charging decision at the earliest opportunity.

“Having carefully considered all of the material supplied to us by West Yorkshire Police, we have made the decision that there is sufficient evidence and have authorised that Michael Donovan be charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment.”

Mr Mann said the CPS would continue to keep the case under “continuous review” as it develops, which may be seen as an indication that further charges against Mr Donovan are anticipated.

Times Recommends

• Should Knox’s trial even have reached the courtroom?
• All that glitters is not sold in Wright’s world
• Believe it or not, Big Brother is your friend