The man accused of kidnapping Shannon Matthews in a plot to claim reward money today denied that he was the ringleader of the abduction, maintaining that he was merely an unwilling pawn in a scheme devised by Shannon’s mother Karen.

Under cross-examination, Michael Donovan, 40, denied drawing up a list of rules to keep Shannon quiet that was found on top of his television set, denied using a long leash found hanging from a roofbeam to tether her when he went out, and stuck to his claim that he only went along with the kidnap because he was "frightened".

Shannon, then nine, was discovered hidden in the base of a bed in Mr Donovan’s Batley Carr flat, 24 days after she went missing from her Dewsbury Moor home in February this year. The prosecution alleges that he and Ms Matthews, 33, orchestrated the fake abduction in order to claim £50,000 in reward money donated by the public. Both deny kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice in connection with the girl’s disappearance.

Mr Donovan stuck to the story that he told police - that the girl had got willingly into his car thinking she was going to the fair - and denied that he had forced her into the vehicle as she walked home from school. He had only kept Shannon at his Batley Carr flat because he was frightened of Ms Matthews, Mr Mr Donovan claimed.

He denied tethering Shannon, saying that the strap found in his loft which was allegedly used to restrain her was a “mystery” to him, and that he had never been able to get into his loft. He also denied writing the list of rules found in his flat, saying he had simply copied it from an A4 piece of paper given to him by Ms Matthews.

Frances Oldham QC, who is representing Ms Matthews, told the jurors that Mr Donovan and not her client was the person controlling the plan.

She said: “Mr Donovan, you knew exactly what you were doing, didn’t you? You were the one in control, you were in control of Shannon?”

Mr Donovan denied the suggestions. He also denied that he had pressured Shannon to act as if she was his daughter, and that he had forced her to wear clothing left behind by one of his own children, who had moved away with his former wife.

“I showed her some. It was up to her if she wore it or not,” he told the jury at Leeds Crown Court.

Yesterday, the court heard that Mr Donovan had taken one of his daughters to Blackpool during a custody dispute with his former wife. But Mr Donovan denied planning to take Shannon to Blackpool.

Mrs Oldham told the court that letters and pictures by Shannon had been found in Mr Donovan’s flat. Mr Donovan agreed that the nine-year-old had written to one of his daughters and drawn a picture of Blackpool after he said it was his one of his favourite seaside places, but he said the schoolgirl had made them of “her own free will” and he had not forced her

Mrs Oldham also read out a letter written by Shannon, which said: “Dear John, when me and my dad go to Blackpool, we’re going to take some pictures of Blackpool seaside and a bus. I love you, I will miss you, so will my dad. Love Shannon and Dad.”

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