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Childminder jailed for two years after leaving over twenty children unsupervised

A 55-year-old childminder has been sentenced to two years in prison after abandoning more than 20 children in her home in Dunfermline, Fife.

FTMQ News, written by our newsroom6 November 2026 at 11:501 view

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Picture: BBC News

A childminder who left more than 20 children unsupervised in her home has been jailed for two years, BBC News reported. Amanda Mathewson, aged 55, pled guilty to wilfully neglecting, abandoning, and exposing the children in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or health injuries. The offenses took place at her home in Dunfermline, Fife, in August 2024. [1][2][3]

Mathewson was registered to care for a maximum of eight children under the age of 16 at any single time, according to BBC News. An internal Care Inspectorate investigation revealed that an unidentified staff member had previously tipped her off regarding unannounced inspections. [1]

The childminder's actions were exposed only after concerned parents monitored her movements and witnessed her departing from the home without the children, BBC News reported. [1]

Cases of child abandonment have occurred elsewhere in recent months, as FTMQ News reported earlier. In October 2026, a mother in Kissimmee, Florida, was arrested after leaving four children alone to take a trip to Las Vegas. Earlier that month, a mother abandoned her two children on a hiking trail in Poland to reach a mountain summit by herself. [5][6]

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In short

Amanda Mathewson was sentenced to two years in prison for child neglect.
Mathewson left more than 20 children unsupervised at her home in Dunfermline in August 2024.
She was licensed to look after only eight children under age 16 at one time.
Concerned parents exposed her actions after spying on her leaving the house without the children.

Sources

Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.

[1]Childminder who left more than 20 children alone in her home jailedBBC News, 1h ago (the report this story comes from)
[2]Childminder who left more than 20 children alone in her home jailedYahoo, 1h ago
[3]Childminder who left more than 20 children alone in her home jailedAOL.com, 1h ago

Background

[4]Rose West on Wikipedia
[5]Florida mother arrested after leaving four children home alone for days FTMQ News, 10d ago
[6]Mother leaves children on mountain trail in Poland FTMQ News, 18d ago

Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 6 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.

Earlier reports of ours on the same people and subjects.

Australian author Craig Silvey jailed for seven months over child exploitation materialTop Stories, 4d ago
Oklahoma mother receives seven consecutive life sentences for child neglectTop Stories, 3d ago
Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong jailed for ten yearsTop Stories, 1d ago
Dublin woman jailed for defrauding Cork man of over 65,000 eurosKillarney Ireland, 3d ago
Driver jailed for life after dragging Manchester head teacher under carTop Stories, 3d ago

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