LONDON - A BRITISH mother was found guilty on Thursday of kidnapping her own nine-year-old daughter, allegedly to scoop the reward money when the girl was found.

The disappearance of Shannon Matthews prompted one of the biggest searches in British history, costing over three million pounds (S$6.6 million), but she was found safely 24 days later in the base of a divan bed at the flat of Michael Donovan.

Donovan, 40, was convicted along with the girl's mother, 33-year-old Karen Matthews, who is from Dewsbury in northern England. He is the uncle of her former partner.

Prosecutors said Donovan kept the schoolgirl drugged and imprisoned in his flat less than a mile (1.6km) from her home as part of a plan he and Karen Matthews hatched to claim reward money.

During a high-profile publicity campaign led by Matthews to find her daughter, The Sun newspaper offered 50,000 pounds for anyone who found the schoolgirl.

Karen Matthews, who often appeared on television in tears when her daughter was missing in February, told the court during the trial that she was 'disgusted' by the allegations made against her.

Donovan said he was scared of Karen Matthews and said he only agreed to take the girl in because he feared for his life. They both denied all the charges.

The pair were convicted of the kidnap and false imprisonment of the girl plus perverting the course of justice after a three-week trial at Leeds Crown Court in northern England.

Judge Richard McCombe told the pair after the verdict was handed down that they faced a 'substantial custodial sentence'. Sentencing has been adjourned for reports to an unspecified date. -- AFP