Liam’s childminder raised concerns before his murder

The former childminder of murdered toddler Liam Fee has said social workers failed to properly act on her repeated warnings about the boy’s welfare.

The two-year-old was killed by his mother Rachel Fee and her partner Nyomi at their home in Thornton, Fife in March 2014. Childminder Heather Farmer said she contacted the authorities on three occasions after becoming concerned about injuries Liam had received.

Her comments came in a BBC documentary, Fife’s Child Killings: The Untold Story, which also examined the deaths of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular and two-yearold Madison Horn. All three deathsoccurredwithinafourmonth period.

Ms Farmer said she was made to feel like a “nosey

Ineighbour trying to make trouble” when she raised concerns about Liam’s wellbeing.

She said: “I just wish somebody had listened, somebody had helped him.

“I think about him every other day. He should have been going to school last year and he didn’t get to go.”

Asked how she felt about the fact that Liam did not get the help he needed, she said: “Awful – that nobody helped him. But I tried. I done, I did, I tried.”

The documentary also heard from a former social worker struck off for failings, who said she had been made a “scapegoat”.

Lesley Bate said she had made mistakes by not properly following up concerns about injuries found on Liam.

But she said she went off sick a year before Liam’s murder and his case was not passed to another social worker.

“I know I made mistakes,” she said.

“I was

falling

apart. shouldn’t have been at work. I was just losing control.”

The social worker went off sick in April 2013 and said her bosses went on a “fishing expedition” to find gaps in her record-keeping.

She was told in September that year she could face disciplinary action over her work on Liam’s case and a number of others.

She said: “It seems that while I was off sick, no-one had picked Liam’s case up and yet they could see that I hadn’t done any work with it.”

In a statement, Fife Council said: “Liam’s death was a tragic occurrence which has had an enormous impact on all the staff involved.

“It’s clear that professionals who were making strenuous efforts to act in Liam’s interests were drawn in by the demands and needs of Liam’s mother and her partner who were adept at playing the system.” 0 Childminder Heather Farmer said she contacted the authorities on three occasions after becoming concerned about injuries Liam, left, had received