DRAGGED FROM THE BED, BITING AND SCREAMING; Shannon accused 'lashed out at officers'.

Byline: BY LUCY THORNTON

THE man accused of kidnapping Shannon Matthews went berserk after police found him hiding in a bed with her, a court heard.

Officers said Michael Donovan, 40, refused to move as he lay curled up in the divan base.

But when they lifted the bed to drag him out, he is said to have lashed out and tried to bite one of them.

PC Matthew Troake told the court yesterday: "He was screaming."

Shannon, nine, had emerged from the same bed frightened and crying moments before, the jury heard.

Donovan apparently continued to struggle after being handcuffed and was banging his head on the wall as they walked him down the the stairs.

He is also said to have refused to walk to the police van with officers having to carry him.

Donovan is accused with Karen Matthews, 33, of kidnapping her daughter Shannon so they could claim a pounds 50,000 reward. Prosecutors allege the girl was drugged and imprisoned in his flat near her home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorks.

Yesterday Donovan's neighbour Carol Battye told Leeds crown court she chatted with Karen Matthews outside his flat just days after Shannon went missing. She said: "She asked if I knew when Mick would be in."

The jury also heard yesterday of the moment the child - missing for 24 days - toppled out of the bed during a police search of Donovan's flat and announced "I'm Shannon".

Alan Conrad QC, defending, accused police of banging Donovan's head on the floor - claims that they denied. Matthews and Donovan deny kidnapping Shannon, false imprisonment and perverting justice.

The trial continues.

CAPTION(S):

WITNESS PC Matthew Troake detained Donovan; TRIAL Michael Donovan denies Shannon's kidnap; FOUND Shannon Matthews, nine; COURT Mum Karen Matthews