The media, and the newspapers in particular, have revelled in two of the most distasteful stories of the year - Karen Matthews' abduction of her daughter Shannon in order to claim a reward and what Boy George gets up to in his spare time.
In Karen Matthews' case and that of the rest of her under-class peers also involved in the appalling scam, I've got a colleague who draws comfort by saying that ‘at least they are only ruining one household'. In this instance this is unfortunately not true - seemingly extending across the bleak Dewsbury sink estate where Matthews was apparently related to a series of unpleasant characters with curious names.
Unfortunately, to some extent, the media is responsible for this by appearing to wallow in the expected human misery that normally ensue from these tragic incidents with extensive coverage of the child, the police search and the inevitable pictures of the distraught family.
By then offering a large reward to demonstrate how compassionate and caring they are for information leading to the child's safe return (which tragically enough is rarely paid), it was perhaps just a matter of time before some God-awful person like Karen Matthews and her revolting extended family sought to bolster their state handouts by attempting to cash in.
Newspapers are normally quick to attribute blame when children are abducted. Perhaps in this instance they should accept some of it.
