Britain’s 'most hated mum' asks God for FORGIVENESS after serving just HALF her jail term
DISGRACED Karen Matthews, the mother who sensationally faked the kidnap of her own daughter Shannon, has turned to God to ask for forgiveness for her heinous crime.
Matthews, 41, has joined a Bible group and begun praying every day since she was released from custody after serving just half our her eight-year prison sentence.
She has reportedly moaned about not being able to find a job since being released as well as complaining that she is forced to live on £25-a-week benefits.
However, the mother-of-seven has allegedly found some comfort in a local religious group.
I know I did something wrong but I’m not the baddest person people are making out
The group meet regularly in a Pret a Manger cafe where they use websites with Christian sentiment messages such as survival expert Bear Grylls to help people make sense of ‘questions about life’.
A friend of Matthews told The Mirror the ex-con had “given up f** swearing” and was no longer drinking alcohol.
Matthews reportedly told her friend: "When I left prison I picked up a Bible and saw a passage about ‘God loves you’.
“I knew I was hated by everyone, cut off from my family… but here they were, saying I was loved.
She added: “I know I did something wrong but I’m not the baddest person people are making out. I am sorry for hurting people.
“I’ve hurt my family. My friends that supported me at the time, I’ve hurt them.”
Matthews has been out of work since she moved from her Yorkshire home to southern England, where she adopted a new identity a bid for a fresh start.
She has reportedly piled on the weight since she was convicted, as well as losing some teeth as a result of her terrible prison diet.
She now has jet-black hair and several piercings and appears almost unrecognisable from the images taken of her when she was arrested back in 2008.
She was convicted of abducting her daughter Shannon after the youngster was reported missing in February 2008, sparking a three-week manhunt that ultimately led authorities to discover the girl at the house of Michael Donovan, whose nephew Craig Meehan was in a relationship with Karen Matthews.
In court it was also revealed Shannon had been given hypnotic drug Temazepam in the months before the abduction, and that Matthews and Donovan had agreed to split the reward money when Donovan ‘found’ her.
The pair were given eight-year jail terms for perverting the course of justice, although Matthews still maintains her innocence.