Childminder who left 27 children alone and unsupervised was a 'master manipulator', betrayed families say

From the Newshound archive · first published 6 October 2026 · last updated 8 October 2026.

Amanda Mathewson, 55, a self-employed childminder of 30 years, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court and admitted charges of wilful neglect and abandonment of children at her Dunfermline home. She had been looking after 27 children simultaneously — 19 above the number her licence permitted — and at one stage left all of them alone without supervision. Parents reported that children came home hungry, thirsty, and in soiled nappies, and that the children themselves described being left unsupervised as 'commonplace'. Mathewson is due to be sentenced next month.

At the time of her arrest, Mathewson had in her care 15 children under 12, ten below school age, and two babies under one year old.

Families grew suspicious after noticing irregular school runs; one couple who entered her home found children locked away and screaming.

'We have had to rewrite eight years of history,' one devastated parent said, 'and have lost happy memories.'