Meehan in court on child porn charges

The former partner of Shannon Matthews' mother has appeared in court on child porn charges.

Craig Meehan, 22, was remanded in custody after a brief appearance at Dewsbury Magistrates' Court in West Yorkshire.

Meehan is accused of possessing 140 indecent images of children which were allegedly found on a computer at the home he shared with Karen Matthews.

He has already denied the accusations and a five day trial is listed to start on September 8.

The supermarket fishmonger is accused of 11 specimen offences of possession of indecent images of children.

It is alleged Meehan possessed indecent images of children aged between four and 16, graded at levels one to four - on a scale where one is the least serious and five is the most serious.

They were allegedly found on one of two computers at the family home where he lived with Matthews, 32, for around five years.

Shannon went missing on February 19 and was discovered hidden in the base of a bed in a flat just one mile from her home after a 24 day search by police.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.