Liam Fee trial: Jurors in tears as '˜distressing' film of dead toddler shown

Jurors wept as they were shown video of tragic toddler Liam Fee lying dead in his bedroom.
Toddler Liam Fee. Picture: Police ScotlandToddler Liam Fee. Picture: Police Scotland
Toddler Liam Fee. Picture: Police Scotland

The silent film was recorded by a Police Scotland scene examiner just a few hours after the two-year-old was found dead in a Fife flat.

Before it was screened at the High Court in Livingston yesterday the advocate depute warned some people might find the content distressing.

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Liam’s mother Rachel Trelfa or Fee and her civil partner Nyomi Fee are on trial for allegedly murdering the tot and trying to defeat the ends of justice by blaming his death on a seven-year-old boy. They deny the charges.

Detective Constable Mark Falconer gave evidence that the 12-minute film was made in the early hours of Saturday 23 March, 2014.

The video tour of their former home near Glenrothes showed photographs of Liam hanging on the walls, heart-shaped decorations and children’s toys.

When the camera reached little Liam’s bedroom Rachel, 31, pinched her eyes to hold back tears and pulled a scarf up over her mouth. Nyomi, 21, bent her head down and buried her face in her scarf before wiping away her tears.

The jury saw baby Liam lying on his back in the middle of his bedroom floor covered with a green duvet. His buggy and cot are standing nearby.

The toddler appears to be asleep with his eyes closed and his head slightly to one side.

He is wearing a T-shirt top featuring the C-Beebies characters the Zingzillas and blue cotton jogging trousers with his arms down by his sides.

Close-up shots of the toddler show that his right leg is straight while his left leg – which was later found to be broken – is bent at an odd angle.

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A trickle of dried blood can clearly be seen running down his face from his nose.

PC Sam Girdwood, 24, one of the first officers to arrive at the flat where Liam was found dead, said Rachel Fee had brought a seven-year-old boy to them in the hallway.

He told the jury: “Rachel said: ‘Tell them what you’ve done!’ He mumbled something like: ‘I strangled him’.

“Rachel said she didn’t want him in the house. I took him into another room. He had his head down the whole time he was with me.

“He wasn’t upset. He didn’t show any emotion at all. He stood in the bedroom, his hands were by his side and he was looking down at the floor. He never said anything.”

Jennifer Broadley, 27, who runs a pet shop in Whitburn, West Lothian, said she bought two snakes from Rachel and Nyomi Fee the day Liam died.

She said she paid them £70 for a seven foot boa constrictor and a three and a half foot Royal Python.

She said she saw a boy aged about seven sitting at a desk in the corner of the living room writing out lines in red pen. She added: “He didn’t even look up, he didn’t communicate, he didn’t say anything – he was just writing lines.”

The trial continues.