A father has described the moment he discovered 27 children abandoned at their childminder’s house without access to food or water.

The dad uncovered the crimes of Amanda Mathewson, 55, when she was spotted at school pick-up without his two sons, who were meant to be in her care.

The nanny had come highly recommended in Dunfermline, Fife, but what parents thought was happening in her house turned out to be a lie.

She had more than 50 children in her care between 2023 and 2024, a court heard, despite only having a licence to look after eight.

On the day she was arrested, she was looking after 27. All were under 16 and some were younger than 12 months.

Mathewson got away with it for nearly a year by asking parents to text her before coming to pick their children up so she could hide others away in different rooms.

Speaking to The Times, Angus explained how he and his wife had entrusted their two sons in his care for almost two years.

In 2024, one of his boys started to protest, saying the childminder was putting him upstairs in a buggy.

When the parents questioned Mathewson, she quickly reassured them that he had simply fallen asleep in his buggy.

It was one of many lies she repeatedly told to mislead parents to continue her neglect.

The truth came out on August 26, 2024, when Angus’ two sons were supposed to be in Mathewson’s care.

But another parent contacted him, saying they had seen Mathewson at school pick-up, but neither of Angus’ children were with her.

He and his wife went to the school to check and spotted that none of the trainers poking out of Mathewson’s buggy belonged to their sons.

They quickly drove to the childminder’s house, where they could hear a child crying inside.

Inside the house there were 22 more children, all unattended.

Angus recalled: ‘At first it was just shock and disbelief, but then just an incredible sense of duty set in.

‘We were surrounded by distressed children who didn’t recognise us, with no idea of what their needs were or what problems they had.’

He continued: ‘We realised we’d just uncovered a snapshot of what had been going on here but how bad did it get?’

Twelve of the children that day had not yet started primary school, including a toddler crying under the kitchen table.

His two sons were upstairs and shut in a ‘boiling hot’ spare room with nine other children under five, including two strapped in buggies.

Angus said: ‘I found nine of them in there with no access to food, water, toys or activities; the only thing for them to engage in was the TV.’

He was walking back downstairs wit his sons when Mathewson came back home from the school pick-up.

She walked into the hallway, looked up and locked eyes with me … I just said ‘What are you playing at? How many laws have you broken here?,’ Angus told The Times.

It was at that point that Mathewson collapsed and slumped, recognising the lies she had told had ‘fallen apart’.

Scores of distraught parents began to arrive at the house as Angus called the police.

Mathewson was described as ‘having an answer for everything’ despite the adults picking up on signs something was wrong.

Parents had noticed their children were coming home thirsty, or with immaculate clothing despite Mathewson claiming they had eaten ‘messy meals’.

Others said their kids came back home thirsty, with dirty nappies or wet underwear.

The childminder had given parents ‘diaries’ or ‘logs’ of their child’s day, which were found to be misleading and false by the police.

What parents cannot believe most of all is that Mathewson’s crimes were not discovered by the Care Inspectorate.

She had been given a glowing report by the regulator following an unannounced inspection on August 7, 2023 – just weeks before her offending began.

The report rated her ‘very good’ on all measures, and said children were being cared for in a ‘comfortable, welcoming and homely environment’ and with ‘warmth, kindness and a nurturing approach’.

In a letter to parents in February 2025, the Care Inspectorate acknowledged that Mathewson ‘had knowledge of complaint and inspection information’ from someone within the agency.

At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in October, Mathewson admitted wilfully neglecting, abandoning and exposing children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to their health.

At the same court on Friday, Sheriff MacRitchie sentenced her to two years in prison.

Handing down his sentence, the judge told Mathewson: ‘Your qualifications and experience mean you understand the developmental vulnerability of babies and young children, the need for constant supervision, (and) the obvious risks created by leaving them without an adult.

‘The potential for catastrophic harm was enormous.’

He told her only a prison sentence was appropriate.

‘A non-custodial sentence would fail to reflect the seriousness of the offence, and fail properly to punish, and fail to express society’s grave disapproval of your conduct,’ the judge said.

Following sentencing, a spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: ‘This was a shocking case and our thoughts are with those affected.

‘Amanda Mathewson broke the trust of families and children, and the crime for which she is responsible has been dealt with by the courts.

‘The Care Inspectorate has listened carefully to parents who raised concerns with us and we have reviewed how we work following learning from this case.

‘This has included updating our inspection, complaints and conflict of interest procedures.

‘We have provided new ways to submit feedback on childminders both during and out-with inspections.

‘We have also provided clearer resources to help families understand what to expect from their childminder.

‘It is important to note that this case does not reflect the wider childminding sector. The overwhelming majority of childminders in Scotland provide safe, nurturing care for children, with more than 90% receiving grades of good or better at inspection.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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