Mikaeel Kular: mother pleads guilty to killing three-year-old

Rosdeep Adekoya, the mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular, has admitted to killing her son in January and pretending to police he had gone missing.

The 34-year-old claimed that Mikaeel had disappeared from his bed on the night of Wednesday 15 January, sparking a major search operation involving police, coastguard and hundreds of members of the public. His body was discovered in a woodland area in Fife days later and she was subsequently charged with murder.

At a High Court in Edinburgh, Adekoya admitted to the reduced charge of culpable homicide, as well as attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

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She admitted to repeatedly punching her son and causing his body to hit against a hard object or inflicting blunt injuries on his head and body, reports the Edinburgh Evening News.

The court heard that she "lost her temper" when Mikaeel was repeatedly sick following a trip to a Nando's restaurant in the city.

She smacked him and struck him on the body and head with a clenched fist, the court heard. When he was sick again, she dragged him to the shower by his arms and "beat him heavily" on his back as he lay over the bath edge.

Mikaeel died from internal injuries on the night of Tuesday 14 January. The court heard that it was likely he died from injuries inflicted on the Sunday, but he was assaulted again on the Monday and his mother did not take him to a doctor because of the bruising.

Adekoya then wrapped his body in a duvet cover, put it in a suitcase and drove to Dunvegan Avenue in Kirkcaldy, Fife, where she hid the case under a bush in woods behind a house.

Internet search history showed that the mother-of-five had searched: "I find it hard to love my son", "I love all of my children except one", "Why am I so aggressive with my son" and "Get rid of bruises".

Adekoya, currently a prisoner at Cornton Vale prison near Stirling, will be sentenced on 25 August.

Mikaeel Kular: missing toddler died from internal bleeding

5 March

MIKAEEL KULAR, the three-year-old boy whose body was found in a woodland area in Fife earlier this year died from internal bleeding and an inflammation of the abdomen, according to newly released documents.

The toddler was reported missing from his home in Edinburgh on 16 January, prompting hundreds of volunteers to join a huge police search in the Muirhouse and Silverknowes areas of the city. His remains were found a day later in woodland more than 20 miles north in Kirkcaldy, Fife, which became the scene of one of the biggest police forensic operations in Scotland in recent years.

His mother Rosdeep Adekoya, 33, was subsequently charged with his murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

At the time it was unclear how Kular had died, but a registrar in Kirkcaldy has now released his death certificate, which records the cause of death as "peritonitis and intra-abdominal haemorrhage", and said an investigation of the facts of the case was pending.

Peritonitis is defined as inflammation of the peritoneum – the thin lining of the abdomen – and requires immediate treatment. It is caused by an infection that can spread rapidly around the body. An intra-abdominal haemorrhage is bleeding inside the abdomen.

Mikaeel's death was registered by his step-grandfather, who signed the document Mr B Krishnaswamy, according to the Daily Record. The time and place of death was listed as "04.02 on 18 January" in "woodland behind Dunvegan Avenue, Kirkcaldy".

Adekoya is being held on remand at Cornton Vale jail near Stirling and has appeared twice in court, making no plea or declaration.

The prison service is currently investigating how a Facebook page belonging to Adekoya appeared online last week. The page, which had been bombarded with abusive messages, was taken down after she was charged but reappeared last week. A prison spokeswoman said they would look into any suggestion that a prisoner was using social media.

Mikaeel Kular: mother Rosdeep charged with his murder

21 January

THE mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular made no plea after she was charged with her son's murder during a behind-closed-doors court appearance yesterday, The Independent reports.

Rosdeep Kular, 33, was also charged with trying to defeat the ends of justice during a brief private hearing before Sheriff Frank Crowe at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday afternoon.

Kular, who was charged under her married name of Adekoya, made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody following the hearing, the paper says.

Kular, who is understood to be estranged from her husband, was formally arrested and charged on Saturday in connection with her son's death, the London Evening Standard reports. Two men have been arrested over allegedly offensive tweets sent about the case.

Mikaeel Kular: mother in court after missing boy's body found

20 January

THE mother of Mikaeel Kular is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today in connection with her son's death.

Police discovered the body of the missing three-year-old on Friday night and formally charged his mother, Rosdeep Kular, 33, on Saturday. Details of the charge are not yet known but will become clear when she appears in court today.

The body was discovered during a major search operation involving police, coastguard and hundreds of members of the public.

Mikaeel's mother reported him missing on Thursday morning, claiming that she put her son to bed in their home in Ferry Gait Crescent, Edinburgh, at about 9pm on Wednesday. He was not in the flat when the family woke at 7.15am the next morning, she said.

Mikaeel had not been seen at his nursery since the Christmas break because he was said to be ill.

After two days of searching, his body was found about 20 miles away in Kirkcaldy, Fife, late on Friday. It was later removed from woodland behind a property in the town's Dunvegan Avenue, and taken away by ambulance.

Forensic teams have been searching a house in the street along with an area of woodland around the property. Rosdeep Kular and her five children had previously lived at the address. One neighbour told the BBC that Mikaeel and his twin sister were born while the family was living there.

The local community in both Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy have expressed shock at the news of Mikaeel's death. Many people have left flowers and soft toys outside the little boy's home in Edinburgh and on Saturday evening hundreds of people gathered at Muirhouse St Andrew's Church in Edinburgh for a service in his memory.

Meanwhile, two men have been arrested after racist comments relating to his disappearance were posted on Twitter and Facebook.

Police said the men, aged 19 and 26, had been arrested, questioned and released on bail.