Childminder who left 27 children alone in her home pleads guilty to neglect

A Dunfermline childminder has admitted leaving more than 20 children she was caring for alone and unsupervised in her home.

Her offending took place at a number of locations in Dunfermline and elsewhere in Fife.

Mathewson, who has been a self-employed childminder for 30 years, was arrested by police following allegations of cruelty towards children.

At the time of her arrest she had 15 children aged under 12, 10 children under primary school age, and two children under the age of one in her care.

Procurator fiscal Vicki Bell told the court two parents became suspicious of Mathewson after being informed their children were not present while the childminder carried out a school run.

They then went to her home, where they heard a "child screaming" and found five unattended children in the garden.

They approached the door of the house to check if there were any adults present, when they hear another child "screaming hysterically" inside.

A further nine children, all under five, were found in an upstairs bedroom. Two of them were strapped into prams. The children were said to be "distressed" but uninjured.

The court heard ring doorbell footage showed it was the second time that day the children had been left inside the house.

During the police investigation, various children told their parents that being left alone in Mathewson's home was "commonplace".

The investigation found discrepancies in the number of children in Matthewson's care and the number of children she was seen with on multiple occasions.

The parents of the three children who were in attendance were sent a photo of their child with Santa, while the others were just sent a generic photo.