THE kidnapper of Shannon Matthews 16 years ago has died at a Steeton hospital, according to national reports.

Shannon was discovered 24 days after disappearing from her home in Dewsbury Moor.

She had been hidden and drugged at the home of her stepfather’s uncle, Michael Donovan, less than a mile away.

Her mother, Karen Matthews, was sentenced to eight years in prison after a court heard that she planned the 2008 disappearance in an attempt to claim a cash reward.

She was released in 2012.

Donovan received the same sentence.

It is reported Donovan, 54, was diagnosed with Stage 3 throat cancer in February and was pronounced dead last Wednesday (April 17) at Three Valleys Hospital. According to the hospital website, the facility caters for adults with complex mental health issues.

The reports add that he collapsed in a hospital courtyard.

Police eventually found Shannon, aged nine at the time, in the drawer of a divan bed. She had gone missing on February 19, 2008.

During the court case, prosecutors told the jury that Shannon was kept locked in a flat for 24 days by Donovan, who police believe used an elasticated strap with a noose on the end to tether her when he went out.

Prosecutors at Leeds Crown Court said Donovan drugged the girl with Temazepam and travel sickness tablets and gave her a list of “rules”.

The rules, written down in a document, were found on top of a television. They included that she must not go near the windows, make any noise or bang her feet, must not "do anything without me being there", and keep the TV volume low.

All the time Shannon’s mother kept up a “wicked and dishonest lie” – knowing all the time where her daughter was – as police conducted a massive search operation which eventually cost almost £3.2 million, the jury was told.

Julian Goose QC told the court the pair hatched the plan to kidnap Shannon to get hold of a reward offered by a newspaper.

The prosecutor told the jury: “The prosecution’s case is that this plan was as dishonest as it was wicked.

“Karen Matthews was using one of her own children in her plan with Donovan to kidnap and falsely imprison her. Both defendants stood by and watched the very large police investigation and assistance by many members of the public in the search for Shannon.”