Amanda Mathewson, a self-employed childminder of 30 years, pleaded guilty at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to neglect and abandoning children in her care. The court heard that at the time of her arrest, Mathewson had 27 children in her home: 15 aged under 12, 10 under primary school age, and two under the age of one. Her license permitted only eight children.
The case emerged after two parents became suspicious when their children were not with Mathewson during a school run. They went to her home, where they heard a child screaming and found five unattended children in the garden. A child told them there were no adults inside. The door was unlocked; inside, they found a child crying under the kitchen table and nine further children under five in an upstairs bedroom, two strapped into prams. Police attended and Mathewson said the children had been left alone for at least 30 minutes. Ring doorbell footage showed this was the second time that day the children were left alone.
A police investigation revealed that being left alone was "commonplace," with children telling parents they did not want to go to Mathewson's home. Discrepancies emerged: Mathewson attended a church Christmas party with only three of nine children in her care that day, sending the other parents a generic photo instead. Similar incidents occurred at a sports day and a visit to Dunfermline fire station. The children were described as distressed but uninjured.