Shannon Matthews's stepfather arrested for possession of child pornography

Craig Meehan has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children

Craig Meehan, 22, was being questioned by detectives last night after a detailed examination of the hard drive.

Meehan, a supermarket fishmonger who has lived with Shannon's mother Karen Matthews for five years, was led from the family home by three detectives.

After Shannon vanished without trace following a school swimming trip on February 19, Meehan has sat alongside Miss Matthews, 32, as they made countless public appeals for information.

In one of the largest police operations launched, hundreds of officers were brought in to search for Shannon.

She was found alive and well 24 days later, on March 14, curled up in the base of a divan bed in a two-bedroom flat owned by Meehan's uncle Michael Donovan, less than a mile away from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

Donovan, 39, was later charged with the kidnap and false imprisonment of the schoolgirl.

He is due to stand trial at Leeds Crown Court in November.

Last night a police source said that the pictures allegedly found on Meehan's computer are not believed to be of Shannon or any of his partner's other children.

Officers took away several black bags containing items from the family home in Moorside Road.

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Shannon, nine, was missing for 24 days before she was found a mile from her home

The arrest came hours before Shannon's mother had been due to see her daughter for only the second time since the end of her ordeal.

Social services had spent the last week arranging the secret meeting at an undisclosed location but were forced to scrap the plans after the arrest.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "During inquiries by the Shannon Matthews investigation team, the contents of a number of computers have been examined.

"As a result of this work, we have arrested a 22-year-old man from the Dewsbury Moor area on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.

"He is currently being questioned at a West Yorkshire Police station."

A police officer takes away bags from Meehan and Mrs Matthews's home today

After Shannon was found alive both Meehan and Miss Matthews were asked to supply DNA samples to police after Donovan implicated them in the disappearance.

In police interviews he even suggested that Miss Matthews's mother had known where she was all along.

Yesterday's dramatic events came 24 hours after Meehan told how he and the family were dealing with the stress of not having Shannon home.

He said: "I've been in to work a couple of times but I'm not back full time yet, Karen needs me here.

"The other kids are doing okay but obviously we all want to see Shannon come home."

Although an emergency protection order on Shannon has now been lifted, she is being cared for by a foster family and might not be allowed home for some time.

Child protection authorities are monitoring her care after her disappearance, and concerns remain about her "dysfunctional" family.

Detectives, meanwhile, are continuing to speak to Shannon about her ordeal and are doing so in 15-minute intervals because of the delicate nature of the questioning and her tender age.

Last night family friend Petra Jamieson, 30, urged others not to rush to judgment on Miss Matthews's partner.

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Meehan with Shannon's mother Karen, last week. The couple have been together for four years and live with their daughter and three of Mrs Matthews's other children

She said: "If it's him [who downloaded the images] then it makes me feel sick. But lots of people use Karen and Craig's computers.

"They have one each and have used Craig's quite a bit to use the internet.

"I've seen other people using their computers too, as there are not that many people around here with the internet, so until the police have checked their dates and times to confirm that it is Craig who has got these pictures, people shouldn't jump to conclusions."

During the time Shannon was missing, Meehan frequently appeared at her mother's side as she appealed for information on her whereabouts.

He spoke about how he got on well with the nine-year-old as he recalled that a cuddly toy which had been a gift from his mother had become a favourite of Shannon's.

The teddy bear also disappeared but he said he tracked it down in the bunk bed of Shannon's half-sister, Courtney, two, who was using it to comfort herself.

He said: "Me and Shannon have always got on well. We have a real good laugh together. She likes jumping on me and trying to beat me up."

He also told how he had suffered personal tragedies of his own which made Shannon's disappearance even harder to deal with. "My dad died last November and my auntie died in January.

"Over the last four years, I have lost someone every Christmas."

Later he added: "We are trying to be normal for the kids but it is really hard with everything that is going on.

"There is always the chance that someone might have seen something or that they have that little bit of information that makes the difference."

On March 13, more than two weeks after Shannon went missing, Meehan said: "We play about as you do but have a brilliant relationship.

"Anyone round here will tell you I love these kids. I know they're not mine but they might as well be."

Miss Matthews said: "Shannon loves Craig. She thinks of him as a dad."

Shannon's natural father, Leon Rose, 29, also backed him. "I've always thought he was a decent guy," he said.

"Whenever I used to go over there to pick Shannon up, he'd be around and it was obvious she looked up to him."

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