Liam Fee: Mother and partner given life sentences for murder of toddler

Rachel and Nyomi Fee will serve a minimum of 23 and a half years and 24 years behind bars respectively for killing the toddler in March 2014

A mother and her partner have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her two-year-old son.

Rachel Fee and her civil partner Nyomi were convicted of assaulting and killing her son Liam at their Fife home in March 2014.

Rachel, 31, will serve a minimum of 23 and a half years behind bars and Nyomi, 28, will serve 24 years.

After a seven week trial at the High Court in Livingston, the jury found by majority verdict that the couple had subjected him to an escalating level of cruelty during his short life.

They were also found guilty of a catalogue of horrific cruelty against two other children who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Liam died due a blow to his abdomen that was so severe it ruptured his heart at his home near Glenrothes. A coroner later concluded his injuries were similar to that of a car-crash victim.

In the days before his death, he had also suffered a broken leg and arm and had suffered more than 30 external injuries.

A video showing the extent of Liam’s injuries was shown to the court but halted 12 minutes in after a juror asked for a break in proceedings to give people time to compose themselves.

Rachel and Nyomi Fee (l-r) were accused of 'unyielding, heartless cruelty' (PA)

The pair had blamed another boy for Liam's death – saying he had "strangled" Liam by putting his hands over his mouth – but after several interviews with specially trained officers and a social worker the child started to explain what really happened.

Prosecuting Alex Prentice QC told the court the couple were guilty of “unyielding, heartless cruelty”.

The court heard how the couple, originally of Ryton, Tyne and Wear, had subjected the little boy to months of neglect and abuse – including not getting him medical help when the, knew his leg was broken.

Instead of taking him to hospital they did a Google search for "how do you die of a broken hip”, “how long can you live with a broken bone?” and “can wives be in prison together?”.

Liam suffered injuries similar to that of a car crash victim (PA/Police Scotland)

The boy they falsely accused of killing Liam also told interviewers Nyomi would call him “dirty boy” and tie him to a locked homemade cage during the night, with his hand and feet bound with cable ties.

He said he would sometimes be naked in the cage with his hands behind his back.

The second child said he had been banned from going to the toilet at night but was given cold showers "for 15 or 20 minutes" when he wept the bed.

He told police the women had tied him naked to a chair and left him alone in a darkened room all night with snakes and rats in boxes.

The boy, who is afraid of the dark, said they told him the box of snakes included a boa constrictor that "eats naughty little boys".

Sentencing, Lord Burns told the Fees they had "grossly abused" their parental responsibilities and said they ran a "cruel regime of neglect and ill treatment".

He noted that they had shown no remorse for the "appalling" mental and physical harm to which they subjected Liam.

Jurors have been excused from jury duty for the next 10 years because of the harrowing details of the case.

The crime has triggered a major case review by Fife Child Protection Committee after it emerged social services were warned about the couple’s treatment of Liam.

The boy’s nursery had alerted social services after Liam had become gradually more withdrawn during his time with them in contrast to the happy little boy who had arrived.

Liam's childminder also raised concerns.

Despite this, a senior Fife social worker admitted in court his case had been dropped as he “fell off their radar” when a member of staff went on sick leave and no one took over the case.

Additional reporting by PA