The mother of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews was charged last night with perverting the course of justice and child neglect after being questioned by police about her daughter’s 24-day disappearance.

Karen Matthews, 32, is being held at Wakefield police station after two days of questioning and will go before Dewsbury Magistrates’ Court today.

Detectives are also investigating reports that someone claiming to be connected to the Matthews family asked for money from the fund set up to help to find the missing toddler Madeleine McCann.

Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the McCanns, said that the family had received two or three such requests. “All I can say is that an approach was made . . . by an individual who appeared to be associated with the family,” he said. “The man concerned was aggressive and seemed to be asking for money for the Shannon fund along the line of ‘You have money, we don’t, can we have some of yours?’

“An illiterate request also came in by e-mail and that too was rejected because of the way it was done as it raised our suspicions.”

Shannon’s mother was arrested on Sunday by a family liaison officer in response to a remark made in a police car. It is understood that Ms Matthews was in the vehicle with two women friends when she suggested that she had been in contact with Michael Donovan — in whose house Shannon was found — shortly after the girl’s disappearance.

Peter Mann, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Having carefully considered the file supplied by West Yorkshire Police, we have decided that there is sufficient evidence and have authorised that Karen Matthews should be charged with perverting the course of justice and child neglect.”

Ms Matthews was criticised yesterday by her sister, Julie Poskitt, for apparently not knowing how many children she had. “When Shannon first went missing, Karen told everyone that she had six children,” Mrs Poskitt said. “It took her days to remember she had seven. I remember screaming at the telly, because even though I’m not their mother, I knew she had seven.”

It is also understood that police are looking at similarities between a Channel 4 episode of the television comedy-drama Shameless, which featured a fake kidnap plot, and Shannon’s disappearance.

Ms Matthews is the fourth family member to be arrested in connection with Shannon’s disappearance from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on February 19.

Mr Donovan, 39, formerly known as Paul Drake, is charged with kidnap and false imprisonment. He was arrested on March 14 after Shannon was found in the base of a bed at his flat, a mile from her home. He is the uncle of Craig Meehan, 22, Ms Matthews’s boyfriend. Mr Meehan has been charged with 11 counts of possessing indecent images of children. He was remanded in custody to appear before the same court on Friday.

Mr Meehan’s sister, Amanda Hyett, 25, who lives next door to Shannon’s mother, and his mother, Alice Meehan, 49, were arrested last week in connection with the alleged abduction — Ms Hyett on suspicion of assisting an offender and Ms Meehan on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice. They were granted bail the next day pending further inquiries.

It was disclosed on Sunday that Mr Donovan had slit his wrists while on remand at Leeds Prison.

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