Sorry Zoo; we'll just write off deaths from internal bleeding as trivial, shall we?

Was there a story about that in the mail?

I just googled valium and children and found that it is not recommended for children under six months. I have no idea what the effects of valium are, but it has a recommended doze for children (over 6mnth) of 1mg - 2.5mg, four times daily.

All medicines have side effects.

This quote from the Institute of Child Health.
Aspirin should not be given to children aged under 16 unless on the advice of a doctor. This is because there is a very small risk that children can develop a condition called Reye’s syndrome if they are given aspirin when they have a viral illness.

the talk of valium is rediculous. How many was she given and for how long ?.

valium is a relaxant and non-lethal..an overdose of valium at the very most would just make a person sleep for a while.

There are a dozen over the counter drugs available in chemists and supermarkets and a million parents give them to their kids every day without prescription or doctor's advice..aspirin, panadol, panadeine are far more dangerous than valium and are lethal.

The only strength Mathews could have had would be 2mg-all that's available under National Health and the very weakest , unless she was a private patient which I seriously doubt.

Or unless she bought them over the counter without prescription-as one can-in Mexico, Spain , Thailand and every Asian country..again which I doubt. Toss in the tens of thousands of kids every week who are popping exstacy, smoking dope,crack, ice and a range of deadly drugs (including binge-boozing).

Now..while I don't know the particulars..it's things like this which are woven into a tale in court to paint an overall picture to produce the judge's ludicrous satement that Mathews was "evil and despicable". What a f***wit !.

She was an idiot, a fraudster,she's obviously thick, a person who wasted police time, who intended to try to scam people but to describe her as "evil and despicable" is a disgrace to people who have suffered under terrible crimes where a family member has been murdered.

As the woman who lead her support group said.."she's not Myra Hindley"..but the judge by using those words has equated her with Hindley as he has left no such words to be used about someone like Hindley. Clearly-Mathews didn't intend to harm her child (except psychologicaly which plenty of parents are doing every day without encountering the law).

The greatest crime this foolish woman committed was making tabloid newspapers and the police look foolish. She was working class and unattractive..not like the McCanns, middle class and eloquent..who also left their children alone for the night so one could be kidnapped.

It's all in the way it's presented and the way the courts work today they have become a farce. It's pretty clear to me and should be for others..the kidnpping charge was added later and that's because the charges she was facing-perverting the course of justice and fraud..wouldn't have produced the sentence the police desired.

There was valium in the flat which the uncle had been prescribed.

It concerns me greatly that people form such hostile opinions from what they have read in the media. Has there been any concrete proof that Shannon was drugged ?

I guess valium is useful if given to children when you don't want them to leave their hotel rooms, while you party out of sight.