Rachel Trelfa, 31, and her partner Nyomi Fee, 28, are facing court charged with murdering their two-year-old son Liam in Fife, Scotland in March 2013.
The women went on trial at Livingston’s High Court yesterday, and the court heard they assaulted Liam several times between January 2012 and March 2014.
In addition to physical assault, the women are also accused of mistreating Liam by leaving him in his pram for long periods of time, putting a blanket over his face, taping socks to his hands, leaving him in a dark room and failing to provide him with adequate food, exercise or physical and mental stimulation.
The injuries they allegedly inflicted on the boy caused his death on March 22. The prosecution claims the women then spent the next month telling police, emergency services, family and friends that one of the other boys in their care killed the toddler.
During the same time period, the women are accused of abusing the other two boys in their care, including the one they blamed for Liam’s death.
The women deny any involvement in Liam’s death, and have also pleaded not guilty to the catalogue of charges of abuse of Liam and the two other boys in their care.
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