The mother of Shannon Matthews, the schoolgirl who vanished for 24 days earlier this year, has been accused of being directly involved in her daughter’s alleged abduction and imprisonment.

Karen Matthews, 32, had previously been held in custody awaiting trial on the lesser charges of perverting the course of justice and child neglect. But yesterday she learnt for the first time that the indictment had been changed to the more serious offences of kidnap and imprisonment. She will face a three-week trial in November.

The mother of seven, who lives in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, stared ahead, her arms folded, in the dock of a packed court five at Leeds Crown Court throughout the 45-minute hearing.

Dressed in a beige jacket, dark trousers and with her hair severely brushed back from her forehead, she did not glance across to her fellow defendant, Michael Donovan, 40. Both spoke only to confirm their names and enter their pleas.

Mr Donovan, a former computer worker, had already been charged with the nine-year-old schoolgirl’s kidnap and false imprisonment. He will also now face a further charge of perverting the course of justice.

Both defendants made formal pleas of not guilty to the counts of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice. Miss Matthews entered no plea on a further charge of child neglect.

Shannon, a Westmoor Junior School pupil, vanished on February 19 on her way home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, from a school swimming expedition. After a three-and-a-half-week search she was found in a drawer of a bed in a flat in Batley Carr, a mile away from her family home.

Her disappearance prompted one of the most extensive missing-persons inquiries ever mounted, involving 250 uniformed officers and 60 detectives. The investigation cost £2.7 million.

Judge Peter Collier, QC, the Recorder of Leeds, fixed the trial date for November 11. He used his office to make it clear to the Legal Services Commission that it should clear payments for the defence’s expert witnesses. He cautioned that any refusal to pay fees could lead to the postponement of the trial, incurring much higher costs.

Craig Meehan, 22, Miss Matthews’s former boyfriend and a nephew of Michael Donovan, is awaiting trial on child pornography charges. The supermarket fishmonger will go on trial next week at Dewsbury Magistrates’ Court.

Shannon is now in the care of social services.

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