Amanda Mathewson pleads guilty to neglecting 27 children

Amanda Mathewson, a 55-year-old self-employed childminder, has pleaded guilty to neglect and abandoning children in her care at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court. The offenses occurred at various locations in Dunfermline and Fife.

At the time of her arrest, Mathewson was caring for 27 children, which was 19 more than her license permitted. The group included 15 children under the age of 12, 10 children of primary school age, and two infants under one year old.

The investigation began after parents became suspicious during school runs. Upon entering Mathewson's home, witnesses reported finding five unattended children in a garden and several other distressed children inside, including one crying under a kitchen table and nine others in an upstairs bedroom.

During the proceedings, it was reported that children described being left alone as ‘commonplace’. Parents also raised concerns regarding inadequate nutrition, dehydration, and poor hygiene, noting that children sometimes returned home in dirty nappies.