Couple Deny Toddler Murder

A mother and her partner have denied murdering a two year old boy at a house in Fife.

Rachael Fee and her civil partner Nyomi Fee are also charged with ill-treating and neglecting two young boys over a two-year period.

They both denied the murder and neglect charges when they appeared at the High Court in Glasgow.

Trial has been set for 4 April next year at the High Court in Livingston.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, said: "The duration of the trial is likely to be eight weeks, though it is difficult to be precise in a case of this nature."

The women deny murdering two-year-old Liam Johnson - also known as Liam Fee - by repeatedly inflicting blunt force trauma to his head and body by unknown means at Donald Crescent in Thornton, near Glenrothes, on various occasions between 15 and 22 March 2014.

They also pleaded not guilty to attempting to defeat the end of justice by falsely telling a 999 operator, ambulance personnel, police and friends and family members that a seven-year-old boy was responsible for the death of Liam.

It is also alleged that on various occasions between January 2012 and March 2014 they failed to provide Liam with adequate exercise or physical and mental stimulation.

It is also claimed they failed to provide him with enough food and gave him medicine intended for another child and Calpol in order to keep him quiet and make him sleep.

The two women also deny harming two young boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, from January 2012 to March 2014.

It is alleged that the pair compelled one of the boys to stand naked under a cold shower as a punishment for wetting the bed, then pushed him and told him to stand still if his body shook.

The Crown also claim that they locked him in a cage they built using a metal fire guard and wood for prolonged periods during the day and night.

They are also alleged to have subjected the boys to a list of other cruel punishments including tying the boy naked to a chair in their bedroom where they kept rats, snakes and a boa constrictor and telling him that the boa constrictor ate naughty boys and forcing him to sleep there on his own in the dark overnight.

Both women deny all the charges against them. They are on bail in Tyne and Wear, England.