Dunfermline childminder jailed for leaving more than 20 children alone

A childminder who admitted leaving more than 20 children alone and unsupervised at her home in Dunfermline has been jailed for two years, BBC News reports.

Amanda Mathewson, 55, pleaded guilty to wilfully neglecting, abandoning and exposing children to a risk of unnecessary suffering or injury to their health. The offences took place in August 2024.

Mathewson was licensed to care for up to eight children under 16 at a time. An internal Care Inspectorate investigation found she had been tipped off about unannounced inspections by an unidentified staff member, the BBC reported.

The offending came to light after concerned parents watched Mathewson leave the house without the children. Sentencing her at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Sheriff MacRitchie described her actions as a “gross abuse of a position of trust” and said she had knowingly created conditions in which injury, terror and neglect were foreseeable.

The court heard that children affected by the case had described nightmares, anxiety and distrust of childcare providers in victim impact statements.