TEN years ago this week the mother of kidnapped child Shannon Matthews was charged in connection with her disappearance.

Karen Matthews, 32, was set to appear before magistrates in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, charged with perverting the course of justice and child neglect.

The missing nine-year-old was found by police at a property one mile away from her Dewsbury home after 24 days missing.

She would later be convicted and jailed.

Meanwhile, Girls Aloud singer, Cheryl Cole was back in the North-East helping to launch a charity in memory of a promising young footballer who died from cancer.

The singer said she was honoured to support The Jordan David Thompson Memorial Fund for Teenage Cancer Trust in the North-East.

Newcastle-born Jordan lost his battle against cancer aged only 15, and his family set up the Toma Fund in his memory to help create a teenage cancer unit at Newcastle's RVI hospital.

Cheryl said: "Because it's my home town, I am honoured to be involved in such a great charity.

"The new unit at the RVI will be a great tribute to Jordan's short life."

An inquest heard that an 18-year-old North-East soldier killed in Iraq was one of seven British service personnel shot with the same sniper's rifle.

The soldiers were killed on the streets of Basra over several months.

Rifleman Aaron Lincoln, of the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, died of a single bullet wound to the head while on patrol in the southern Iraqi city on April 2, last year.

Rfn Lincoln was weeks away from returning to his home on the Sherburn Road Estate, in Durham, after a seven-month tour.

In North Yorkshire, a stolen Mitsubishi Shogun was dumped on a cliff edge at Cowbar, Staithes, by thieves with its engine running.

Police were called and there were concerns someone might be trapped in the car.

The vehicle was first spotted by Cowbar resident Sandra Uttley, who said: "I tried to climb down, but quickly realised it wasn't a good idea so I came back and called the police."

And North-East entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne pledged to leave the vast bulk of his £200m fortune to charity.

The star of BBC's Dragons' Den said he was setting up a benevolent foundation to avoid becoming "the richest man in the graveyard".

The then-59-year-old, who is chairman of Darlington-based Bannatyne leisure group, has also urged other British multi-millionaires to leave their money to good causes.

He said: "I believe that giving away the money you make is the best reason for making it in the first place, and that we rich in Britain do not do enough yet."