A childminder has admitted to leaving more than 20 children at home alone and unsupervised while in her care.
Amanda Mathewson, 55, pleaded guilty to wilfully neglecting and abandoning children in her care, at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, where dozens of local parents attended.
The court heard she was looking after 27 children in her home, 19 more than she was licensed to care for, according to the BBC.
Mathewson was arrested by police following allegations of cruelty towards children, after parents received a tip-off about school runs she was making.
A couple who had trusted their child with Mathewson, entered her home while she was out to find several abandoned children, who had been shut away and left screaming, according to local reports.
When she was arrested, she had 15 children aged under 12, 10 children under primary school age, and two children under the age of one in her care.
Mathewson, who has been a self-employed childminder for 30 years, had provided childcare services at her home in Dunfermline for children under the age of 16.
The court heard that during the police investigation, various children told their parents that being left alone in Mathewson’s home was ‘commonplace’.
Amanda Mathewson, 55, (pictured) pleaded guilty to wilfully neglecting and abandoning children in her care, at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, where dozens of local parents attended
The court heard she was looking after 27 children in her home, 19 more than she was licensed to care for. Pictured: Mathewson leaving court
Children also became ‘upset’ when they were taken to the Mathewson’s home, parents told investigating officers.
Concerns were also raised that children had not eaten while in her care and that children would return home thirsty, the court heard. Other issues were reported by parents, including their children returning home in dirty nappies or with dry faeces in their underwear.
There were times when Mathewson would be seen in public by parents with fewer children than she was supposed to be looking after.
On one occasion, she attended a church Christmas party with three children, despite having nine kids in her care that day. Another time she was seen attending a sports day and a visit to Dunfermline fire station with fewer children than she was responsible for.
Court documents said that Mathewson would play loud music and not let parents into the home at drop-off time to ‘conceal how oversubscribed she was’
Mathewson claimed that she was being assisted by a ‘child-minding friend’.
A Care Inspectorate report published in August 2023 said Mathewson was registered to provide care for a maximum of eight children at once.
This included conditions that only six of the children could be under the age of 12, no more than three could have started primary school, and no more than one could be under 12-months-old.
In the unannounced inspection, which happened around a year before her arrest, it rated areas including care, learning and the setting as ‘very good’.
The report said: ‘Children were cared for in a comfortable, welcoming and homely environment.’ It added that children ‘were cared for with warmth, kindness and a nurturing approach’.
A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate told the BBC that it has ‘implemented changes as a result of learning from this case.’
In a statement, one of the parents said: ‘The criminal case is important for justice. But our ultimate goal is to ensure no other family has to endure what we have been through. Our trust was broken, but our resolve is not.’
Detective Inspector Stephanie Drummond said: ‘This was a complex investigation into a number of offences under the Children and Young Persons Act.
‘Amanda Mathewson was arrested and charged on Wednesday, 2 July, 2025 following enquiries into offences which took place in the Dunfermline area between September, 2023 and August, 2024.
‘We worked with a range of partner agencies during our enquiries.
‘We remain wholly committed to supporting victims of crime and protecting children from harm and will use all available resources during our investigation.’
