Shannon accused denies car claim
The man accused of kidnapping Shannon Matthews has denied pushing the young girl into his car.
Giving evidence for a second day, Michael Donovan, 40, of Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, told Leeds Crown Court that Shannon got into his car saying her mother, Karen Matthews, had told her they were going to the fair.
Donovan and Matthews, 33, both deny kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice in connection with the girl's disappearance.
In cross-examination, Frances Oldham QC, for Karen Matthews, said: "Yesterday, you told us, Shannon said this: 'Hi Mike, mum said you're taking me to the fair tonight'.
"You know Shannon Matthews never said that, did she?"
Donovan replied: "Yes, she did."
Ms Oldham continued: "What I suggest happened is you stopped and pushed her into your car."
Donovan said: "No, I didn't do that."
The court has heard how Shannon, who was nine at the time, was found in Donovan's flat 24 days after she went missing from her home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, in February this year.
The prosecution allege Donovan kept her drugged and imprisoned in his flat as part of a plan he and Matthews had to claim £50,000 in reward money.
