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| Liam Fee: Mother and partner guilty of murdering two-year-old boy | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Mother Rachel Fee and her partner Nyomi have been found guilty of murdering her two-year-old son Liam Fee in Fife. | Mother Rachel Fee and her partner Nyomi have been found guilty of murdering her two-year-old son Liam Fee in Fife. |
| The couple were found guilty of assaulting and killing the young child at his home near Glenrothes in March 2014. | The couple were found guilty of assaulting and killing the young child at his home near Glenrothes in March 2014. |
| They were also convicted of a catalogue of abuse against two other children. | They were also convicted of a catalogue of abuse against two other children. |
| The guilty verdicts were delivered after a seven-week trial at the High Court in Livingston. The couple had blamed another boy for the murder. | The guilty verdicts were delivered after a seven-week trial at the High Court in Livingston. The couple had blamed another boy for the murder. |
| However, the jury found that Rachel and Nyomi Fee had subjected the toddler to an escalating pattern of cruelty during his short life. | However, the jury found that Rachel and Nyomi Fee had subjected the toddler to an escalating pattern of cruelty during his short life. |
| The couple remained impassive as the jury found them guilty of all the charges against them. | The couple remained impassive as the jury found them guilty of all the charges against them. |
| Liam Fee's father, Joseph Johnson, was in tears at the verdict and had to be consoled by friends. | |
| In the days before his death, Liam suffered a broken leg and arm. He was killed by a blow to his abdomen which was so severe that it ruptured his heart. | |
| The jury found Nyomi and Rachel to be jointly responsible for his murder. | The jury found Nyomi and Rachel to be jointly responsible for his murder. |
| In addition, they subjected two other boys to a series of physical and psychological abuse over two years - including forcing one to sleep in a makeshift cage and another to sleep in a room with rats and snakes which they said "ate little boys". | In addition, they subjected two other boys to a series of physical and psychological abuse over two years - including forcing one to sleep in a makeshift cage and another to sleep in a room with rats and snakes which they said "ate little boys". |
| Social services had been alerted to the Fees but had failed to take any action. Fife Child Protection Committee said it would carry out a significant case review. | Social services had been alerted to the Fees but had failed to take any action. Fife Child Protection Committee said it would carry out a significant case review. |
| Elaine Torrance, the president of Social Work Scotland, said such cases were "exceptional". | |
| "Liam's death is an absolute tragedy and the level of cruelty that Liam experienced was deeply shocking," she said. | |
| "What makes it worse is that the abuse was carried out by the very people Liam should have been able to trust the most: his mum and his step-mum." | |
| 'Wrecked lives' | |
| Sean Catherall, a former friend of the Fees, gave evidence at the trial. | |
| He said he had lost touch with the couple after the abuse started and had not been aware of what was going on. | |
| "Words cannot describe how much I actually physically hate them now. They've wrecked so many people's lives," he said. | |
| "I didn't think in a million years she was capable of any of that stuff, especially towards a baby - it kills us every day." |