Scottish Childminder Jailed After Leaving 27 Children Alone — Some Babies Were Strapped Into Strollers and Screaming

A trusted childminder in Scotland has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to repeatedly neglecting and abandoning children who had been placed in her care. Amanda Mathewson, 55, was supposed to provide a safe and nurturing environment for young children, but investigators uncovered a disturbing situation in which she accepted far more children than she was legally permitted to supervise. At one point, as many as 27 children were found at her home in Dunfermline, Fife, despite her registration allowing her to care for a maximum of eight.

The offences took place between September 2023 and August 2024 and involved children under the age of 16, including babies younger than one year old. Court proceedings revealed that some children were left alone in the garden while others were kept inside the house without adult supervision. In one particularly distressing discovery, several young children were found upstairs, with two strapped into strollers. Other children were reportedly crying and visibly distressed. The situation was uncovered after concerned parents became suspicious when their children were not where they were supposed to be during a school run.

When two parents went to investigate Mathewson’s home, they discovered five children unattended in the garden. One child reportedly told them that no adults were inside and that Mathewson had instructed them to wait outside. After entering the house, the parents heard another child screaming and found a young child crying beneath a kitchen table. They then discovered nine more children in an upstairs bedroom, including two strapped into strollers. The children were distressed but were not reported to have suffered physical injuries during that particular discovery.

Investigators later found that leaving children unattended had allegedly happened on multiple occasions. Mathewson had also taken deliberate steps to conceal the number of children in her care. She required parents to send a text message before arriving to collect their children and would hide other children in rooms so that families would not realize how many she was looking after. Some parents also noticed troubling changes in their children, including returning home thirsty, wearing unusually clean clothes despite supposedly eating messy meals, or having dirty nappies. Several families later described the emotional impact of discovering what had happened as deeply traumatic.

The case also raised serious questions about Scotland’s childcare inspection system. Just weeks before the period of offending began, Mathewson had received a highly positive inspection report from the Care Inspectorate, which described her service as welcoming and nurturing. Earlier reporting also revealed concerns that confidential inspection information may have been leaked to her, potentially allowing her to prepare for inspections. Following the case, the regulator said it had reviewed its inspection, complaints, and conflict-of-interest procedures. Parents are now pursuing legal action, arguing that failures in oversight allowed the neglect to continue.

At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on November 6, 2026, Sheriff John MacRitchie sentenced Mathewson to two years in prison. He described her conduct as a gross abuse of trust, emphasizing that she understood the vulnerability of young children and the obvious dangers of leaving them without supervision. More than 90 victim impact statements were submitted, and dozens of parents attended the sentencing hearing. For the families involved, the prison sentence represents an important step toward accountability, but the emotional consequences may remain with their children for years. A person they trusted to protect their little ones had instead placed them in situations where their safety and well-being were seriously compromised.

Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/40937303/cruel-scots-childminder-jailed-kids-home-alone/