Schoolgirl 'drugged in kidnap plot'

(CNN) -- A nine-year-old schoolgirl was drugged and tethered to a roof beam as part of a kidnapping plot staged by her mother to claim up to £50,000 ($75,000) in reward money, an English court heard Wednesday.

Shannon Matthews was locked in an apartment for 24 days after going missing in February, prosecutors told the jury at Leeds Crown Court in West Yorkshire, northern England, the UK Press Association reported.

Shannon's mother, Karen Matthews, 33, and Michael Donovan, 40, are on trial over her disappearance. They both deny charges of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice, PA said.

Prosecutors say Donovan abducted Shannon as she was on her way home from school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. They claim he gave her Temazepam -- a type of sleeping tablet -- and travel sickness pills and kept her tethered to an elasticated strap attached to a roof beam through a loft hatch when he went out.

Meanwhile Karen Matthews kept up a "wicked and dishonest lie" as her daughter became the subject of a massive police search operation and a reward fund offered by a local newspaper grew to $50,000, jurors were told. Donovan planned to release Shannon and then "discover" her, prosecutors said.

"The prosecution's case is that this plan was as dishonest as it was wicked," prosecutor Julian Goose told the court. "Karen Matthews was using one of her own children in her plan with Donovan to kidnap and falsely imprison her."

The strap was discovered by officers searching the first-floor flat following Shannon's discovery, jurors heard. Watch more on the case »

"It had a large loop at the end which, at full stretch, would reach around most of the flat but not permit anyone who was restrained by it from leaving through the front door," Goose said.

"The prosecution say that it is a reasonable inference that Donovan, who had used other methods of subduing Shannon Matthews, had employed the strap to restrain Shannon when Donovan left the flat to go shopping."

The trial resumes Thursday.