The man accused of kidnapping schoolgirl Shannon Matthews claimed that he took her to the park three times during her captivity, even though the area was in the midst of West Yorkshire Police's biggest missing person hunt in recent memory.

Michael Donovan, 40, told police after his arrest that he took good care of Shannon, buying her toys and even taking her on outings in his car with her hood pulled up as the manhunt for the missing nine-year-old continued.

“I took her once when it was getting dark to Tesco supermarket in Batley and once to the Asda supermarket in Dewsbury and she would be sat in the back of the car in her pink coat with the hood up," Mr Donovan was said to have told police.

“On about three times I took her to parks in Batley and Birstall and once in the evening again I took her for a ride in the car to give her a break from the house and get some fresh air.”

He also told police that he wanted to return the girl to her family but didn't dare because he was afraid of being beaten up by thugs on the order's of the girl's mother, Karen Matthews, the jury at Leeds Crown Court was told.

Mr Donovan was arrested in March when Shannon, who had been missing for 24 days, was found in his flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, West Yorkshire. He and Ms Matthews deny kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.

The court has already heard evidence that Shannon was kept drugged, and was left tethered by a long noose tied to a roof beam when he left the flat on his own.

In his first interview after his arrest, he was said to have told officers that he took the girl because Shannon's mother had asked him to take care of her and said there would be money in it for him, Leeds Crown Court heard.

He said that Ms Matthews had also threatened him, promising to “get three lads on to me”. “I know one of the people she mentioned had stabbed a man and killed him. I was frightened if I didn’t do it they’d come after me,” he said.

He told officers that Shannon had come willingly to his car when he picked her up after school on the day she went missing - triggering a police search that involved 300 officers and cost more than £3 million. He claimed that the nine-year-old bounced up and said: "Hi Mike. My mum says we’re going to a fair tonight.”

Mr Donovan told Shannon the fair trip was cancelled because of fog, and she could watch cartoons in his flat.

“I wanted to take Shannon back (to her family) but I was frightened of the men,” he told the officers, according to evidence heard in court today.

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