Dunfermline childminder admits abandoning 27 children, pleads guilty to neglect

Amanda Mathewson, a 55-year-old self-employed childminder with three decades of experience, entered a guilty plea at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for neglect and abandonment after police found 27 children in her Dunfermline home, far above the eight she was licensed to care for. Two parents, suspicious after their children failed to appear on a school run, discovered five children in the garden and additional youngsters inside, some under five and two in prams, all distressed but unharmed.

Mathewson told officers the children had been left alone for at least 30 minutes, and ring-doorbell video confirmed the house was empty twice that day. A Care Inspectorate report from August 2023 had rated her setting “very good” while imposing strict limits on the number and ages of children she could accept. Sheriff John MacRitchie postponed sentencing until 6 November to allow background reports, and Mathewson remains on bail.