NEARLY a decade ago, the country was shocked by both the disappearance of Yorkshire schoolgirl Shannon Matthews and her subsequent discovery.

After a 24-day search, the nine year-old was found drugged, tethered and hidden under a bed. Her own mother, Karen Matthews, was the person responsible, trying to generate money from publicity.

Last night, a new two-part BBC drama called The Moorside was screened with Sheridan Smith as the Matthews’ neighbour Julie Bushby.

Even before screening, the programme was the subject of controversy with Shannon’s family reportedly “furious”. They felt that she deserved some peace rather than what happened to her being served up as entertainment.

Although it’s easy to understand their emotions there is still a strong argument that the drama offers us all a chance to better understand what happened in the context of the time and Shannon’s surroundings.

Karen Matthews received an eight years’ sentence; she was released in 2012. Sadly, we need to be reminded of such evil and this kind of drama does it efficiently.