Shannon's stepfather due in court

The stepfather of Shannon Matthews, whose disappearance sparked a huge search in West Yorkshire before she was found safe and well, is due to appear in court charged with 10 counts of possessing indecent images of children, police sources said.

Craig Meehan, 22, of Dewsbury, was arrested at the family home yesterday and is set to appear before local magistrates. A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "A 22-year-old man has been charged with 10 specimen offences of possession of indecent images of children."

Meehan has lived with Matthews' 32-year-old mother Karen for about five years, media reports said.

The nine-year-old Shannon was found hidden in the base of a bed at a house a mile from her family home last month, 24 days after she went missing following a school swimming trip. Her disappearance in February prompted one of the biggest police inquiries in the area since the Yorkshire Ripper investigation of the 1970s.

Police have charged Meehan's uncle, 39-year-old Michael Donovan, with Matthews' abduction and imprisonment.

Matthews has not returned home since her rescue and remains in the care of local social services.