Foster carer denies string of abuse charges

A foster carer is to stand trial accused of abusing two girls.

It is alleged Helen Smith abused the girls over a four-year period.

Prosecutors say the pair were both burned with a hot spoon, while one is said to have her head forced underwater while she was in the bath.

The other girl is alleged to have been dragged down stairs by her hair and beaten with a hairbrush.

Smith also faces a charge of “wilfully exposing the children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering” by forcing them to remain outside in cold weather conditions without adequate clothing.

She is also said to have withheld adequate food and nourishment from them for long periods.

Court papers state the two girls had been placed in Smith’s care under a fostering agreement with a local council.

Smith, 53, of Sauchie Place, Kinglassie, pleaded not guilty on indictment to three charges of assault and one of wilfully ill-treating children.

Sheriff Grant McCulloch continued the case to a jury trial sitting beginning next week.