Shannon Matthews’s mother appeared in court yesterday accused of concealing information that would have led to the rescue of her missing daughter.

Karen Matthews, 32, is said to have lied repeatedly when she was interviewed by police during the 24-day hunt for the nine-year-old, who disappeared in February as she was walking home from school.

Shannon was found last month, hidden in the base of a divan bed, when detectives forced entry to a flat a mile from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

Michael Donovan, 39, the uncle of Ms Matthews’s boyfriend, is awaiting trial, charged with the child’s kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment.

Ms Matthews, who has been charged with perverting the course of justice and child neglect, is alleged to have been aware that her daughter might be with Mr Donovan but chose not to tell the police. Wearing a blue fleece and dark trousers, she was led into the dock in handcuffs for a short hearing before a district judge at Dewsbury Magistrates’ Court.

The packed public gallery included many of her friends and neighbours from the Dewsbury Moor estate, some of whom played a leading role in helping to search for the missing girl.

Ms Matthews, her hair brushed down to conceal the right side of her face, sat with her head lowered and spoke only to confirm her name and to give the court her address and date of birth.

She glanced only once at the public gallery, shaking her head in response to the cries of “Yes!” that followed District Judge Jonathan Bennett’s decision to remand her in custody.

It is alleged that Ms Matthews “repeatedly concealed information in relation to the whereabouts of Shannon Matthews in interviews and other contacts with officers of the West Yorkshire Police and claimed to have no knowledge of her whereabouts”.

She is also said, between February 18 and March 15, to have “wilfully neglected or abandoned” Shannon in a manner “likely to cause unnecessary suffering . . . or injury to her health”.

Shannon is now in the care of social services, as are three of her siblings, who were taken from the family home last week after their mother’s boyfriend, Craig Meehan, 22, was arrested and charged with possessing indecent images of children on his computer.

An unsuccessful bail application was made on behalf of Ms Matthews by Roger Clapham, for the defence, who said she was concerned about her children, did not want to lose contact with them and “does not want the family to be broken up any further”.

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