# Dunfermline childminder jailed for abandoning children in her care

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/childminder-who-left-27-children-in-her-home-alone-and-unsupervised-is-jailed-for-two-years/
- Published: 2026-11-06T12:18:37+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16271451/Childminder-left-children-home-unsupervised-jailed.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: World

## Key points

- Childminder Amanda Mathewson was jailed for two years.
- Up to 27 children were found at her home.
- She was authorised to care for eight children.

## Summary

Amanda Mathewson has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting she wilfully neglected and abandoned children in her care. Sheriff John MacRitchie said she had grossly abused a position of trust, creating conditions in which harm and distress were foreseeable.

The 55-year-old childminder was permitted to look after eight children but at one point had 27 at her Dunfermline home, including babies. Between September 2023 and August 2024, she hid children from parents and organisations; some were left unsupervised in the garden or strapped into prams upstairs. Parents raised concerns about children being hungry, thirsty or in dirty nappies, while a Care Inspectorate visit shortly before the offences began gave her service a “very good” rating.

## Coverage

- [Daily Mail: Dunfermline childminder jailed for abandoning children in her care](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16271451/Childminder-left-children-home-unsupervised-jailed.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)
- [GB News: Disgraced childminder who wilfully neglected children in her care jailed for two years](https://www.gbnews.com/news/scotland-news-childminder-neglected-children)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.