A mother has been convicted of murdering her two-year-old son.

Rachel Trelfa, 31, formerly of Macclesfield, was found guilty of murdering toddler Liam Fee along with her civil partner Nyomi Fee, 29.

They were convicted after a seven-week trial at the High Court in Livingston, Scotland.

Liam was found dead at the couple’s home in Fife, Scotland, on March 22, 2014, having suffered a ruptured heart as a result of severe blunt force trauma to his body.

Liam had also suffered more than 30 external injuries, including a broken leg and arm.

The court heard that despite suspecting her son had a broken leg for several days, Trelfa went to look after her horse for three hours on the day he died.

Trelfa admitted it was a possibility that Liam would be alive if she had taken him to hospital for treatment, but denied murder.

She told the court: “I know I should have got Liam help. It’s a decision I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”

The court also heard that the pair used their mobile phones to carry out internet searches on subjects such as ‘how do you die of a broken hip?’ and ‘how long can you live with a broken bone?’ three days before Liam was found dead.

A message from Fee’s phone to Trelfa’s mobile stated: “Kids should be drowned at birth to save problems, lol.”

The women were also found guilty of a catalogue of abuse against two other young boys, including one they falsely blamed for Liam’s death.

Trelfa’s mother also told the court not spoken to her daughter in four years.

Gail Trelfa, 55, from Macclesfield, broke down as she took the stand at the High Court in Livingston.

She said she had not spoken to her daughter since Easter 2012.

She said she had loved Liam ‘very dearly’, and added: “I’ve lost my daughter and I’ve lost my grandchild.

“Thank-you Nyomi.”

Mrs Trelfa said she had previously been ‘very close’ with her daughter, who she said had been a ‘very good mother’.

Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Rory Hamilton said there had been a ‘significant change’ in Liam’s treatment after Trelfa left his father and their

home in the north of England in December 2011 to move to Scotland with Fee.

Mr Hamilton said a picture emerged of a ‘very, very close’ couple, for whom Liam had become ‘somewhat of an inconvenience’.

He said: “The tragic death of Liam has been the culmination of a

consistent course of conduct by both Rachel and Nyomi over a period of months, if not years.

“The injuries that have been explained and uncovered, the level of abuse that we had, was horrific.”

A significant case review is now being carried out by Social Services.

Two-year-old Liam Fee

Toddler's injuries 'so bad he could have been in a road crash'

Liam Fee suffered a life of pain and neglect, cut short in the most brutal way by the very people who should have been caring for him.

Jurors listened as the expert detailed more than 30 external injuries he found on the toddler’s body, most of them “in keeping with blunt force trauma”.

The injuries which ended the two-year-old’s all-too-short existence were so bad they could have been seen in road crash victims, the murder trial heard.

Paediatric pathologist Dr Paul French told how Liam died after suffering a ruptured heart caused by a severe blunt force injury to his torso.

He also found fractures to the boy’s upper arm and thigh, likely sustained in separate events in the hours and days before the child died. These included an abrasion and laceration to the back of the head, and bruises on the shin and thigh.

Not all the bruises could be explained away as the ‘rough and tumble’ of a toddler.

Fee and Trelfa told people Liam had autism and witnesses spoke of seeing the child in a buggy with a blanket over his head, apparently aimed at keeping him calm.

But the court heard a diagnosis of autism under the age of three would be highly unusual and could only happen in very severe cases. Other witnesses told the court they had no difficulties with Liam when they spent time with him.

Rachel Fee (left), 31, who is also known as Rachel Trelfa, and her partner Nyomi Fee, 28, leaving the High Court in Livingston, Scotland, during the trial.

Concerns raised with social services and care bosses before tot's death

A number of people had expressed concern about Liam Fee’s health and wellbeing during his short life.

Childminder Heather Farmer alerted a care watchdog over fears the toddler was being hurt by someone.

She was in tears as she told the court she had been so worried about him that she could not sleep.

She called the Scottish Childminding Association and the Care Inspectorate over her concerns after he turned up with scratches and bruises to his face.

The couple then enrolled Liam into Sunshine Nursery in March 2013 but staff soon started noticing bruises and recorded the incidents using paper diagrams.

Kimberly Trail, the nursery’s manager, said Trelfa told them he was ‘nipping himself’ and added that she thought her son had autism.

But more injuries were appearing on the toddler.

By June, staff had contacted social services with their concerns before an angry Fee withdrew Liam from the nursery.

Another concerned woman who knew the couple said she had contacted social workers after she saw them outside a shop in Fife in September 2013 and thought the toddler looked ‘deathly’.

The court heard from a senior social worker who admitted Liam had dropped ‘off the radar’ for a period of time.

Karen Pedder, a team manager with child protection at Fife Council, dealt with concerns about Liam in 2013.

A social worker and police officer were sent to the couple’s home in January that year but Ms Pedder, 45, said a ‘plausible’ explanation had been given that Liam had ‘bumped his head’ and there was no criminal action taken.

The social worker who had been dealing with the case then went off sick in April and it was not looked at again until there was a contact made by the nursery in June, she said.

Read more:


Read more:
Read more: