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

A Dunfermline childminder has pleaded guilty to neglect after leaving more than 20 children she was responsible for unsupervised in her home. Amanda Mathewson, 55, entered her guilty plea at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for neglect and abandoning children in her care. The offences occurred at several locations across Dunfermline and other parts of Fife. The court heard that Mathewson had 27 children in her residence, 19 above the number she was licensed to supervise. She has worked as a self‑employed childminder for three decades and was arrested by police following allegations of cruelty toward children. At the time of her apprehension she provided childcare at her Dunfermline address for children under the age of 16, specifically 15 children younger than 12, 10 children below primary‑school age and two children under one year old. Procurator fiscal Vicki Bell told the court that two parents grew suspicious after being informed their children were not present while Mathewson carried out a school run. They went to the school discreetly and discovered their children were not with the childminder, despite being under her supervision. The parents then proceeded to Mathewson’s home, where they heard a “child screaming” and found five unattended children in the garden. One child informed the witnesses that no adults were inside and that Mathewson had told them to “wait in the garden”. When the witnesses approached the front door to check for any adults inside, they heard another child “screaming hysterically” from within. The door was unlocked; upon entering they located a child crying beneath a table in a room. An additional nine children, each under five years old, were located in an upstairs bedroom, two of whom were strapped into prams. The children were described as “distressed” but uninjured. Police arrived and Mathewson stated the children had been left alone for at least 30 minutes. The court was shown ringing‑doorbell footage indicating that this was the second occasion that day the children had been left unattended in the house. Mathewson admitted to wilfully neglecting, abandoning and exposing the children to a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to their health. The court heard she had offered childcare places for more children than she could reasonably supervise at any given time. A Care Inspectorate report published in August 2023 noted that Mathewson was registered to care for a maximum of eight children simultaneously, with conditions limiting six to those under 12, no more than three to those who had started primary school and no more than one to infants under 12 months. An unannounced inspection carried out roughly a year before her arrest had graded care, learning and the environment as “very good”, the second‑highest rating on the scale. The report observed that “children were cared for in a comfortable, welcoming and homely environment” and that “they were cared for with warmth, kindness and a nurturing approach”. Sheriff John MacRitchie postponed sentencing until 6 November to allow background reports to be prepared. Mathewson’s bail remains in place.