A same-sex couple have been found guilty of two-year-old Liam Fee’s murder in Fife.
Two women from Ryton in Tyne And Wear, have been found guilty of the murder of Liam Fee, Rachel Fee’s two-year-old son who was found dead at their home in Glenrothes in Fife March 2014.
The toddler died from blunt force trauma which caused his heart to rupture. The court heard that he also suffered numerous injuries including bone fractures.
Rachel Fee, 31 and Nyomi Fee, 29 denied that they had murdered Liam, but were found guilty after a seven week trial at the High Court in Livingston.
They were convicted of all eight charges that were brought against them by the Crown Prosecution Service in Scotland.
They were also convicted of assaults against two other boys in their care.
The couple maintained that Liam had received the injuries from another child – one of the boys they falsely accused of Liam’s murder. He cannot be named for legal reasons.
A jury found the two women guilty after 10 hours of deliberations.
Detective Inspector Rory Hamilton, MIT East, who led the investigation said,
“This was a complex, challenging and sensitive investigation which involved interviewing two young children to establish the level of abuse and neglect both they and Liam Fee had been subjected to.
“It was because of their courage that detectives were able to identify Rachel and Nyomi Fee as being responsible for a wide range of serious offences against three children.”
Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, lead officer for Major Crime and Public Protection, said,
“Liam’s murder has had a profound effect on everyone involved in the investigation and our thoughts are with his wider family.
“The death of a child is always traumatic but the murder of a child has a terrible and lasting impact on the family, on the wider community and on the carers and professionals involved.
“Police Scotland places the highest priority on protecting the most vulnerable, most at risk people in our communities and in investigating criminality when it does take place.
