Two weeks to bring out book of Shannon Matthews case
IS IT A RECORD? Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Richard Edwards had a book on the Shannon Matthews case in print just a fortnight after the end of her mother Karen’s trial.
Richard Edwards covered the Dewsbury family’s story intensively from the start.
He was on the Dewsbury Moor estate on every day Shannon Matthews was missing. He won the trust of the family and was the only reporter regularly welcomed into their home.
He began writing the book, Finding Shannon: The Inside Story, in August and had the text up to date by the start of the trial on November 11; during the hearing he updated it each night.
Richard Edwards is secretary of the NUJ Leeds branch and former NUJ rep at the York Evening Press, where he helped revive a dormant union chapel.
He says: “I’ve covered the 7/7 suicide bombings, and worked in Iraq, Ethiopia and post-tsunami Sri Lanka, but this was the biggest story I’ve ever seen.
“It will be remembered for years to come, so I felt the full story should be told through a book.”
The book is published by Press Desk at £9.99. It can be ordered through the credit card hotline on 01748 821122.