Mikaeel Kular's mother pleads guilty to killing three-year-old
Rosdeep Adekoya admits reduced charge of culpable homicide of son, who
was reported missing from Edinburgh home

Mikaeel Kular was reported missing by his mother, Rosdeep Adekoya
The mother of Mikaeel Kular, the three-year-old boy reported missing
from their Edinburgh home in January, has admitted killing her son.
Rosdeep Adekoya, who has pleaded guilty to killing her three-year-old
son Mikaeel Kular

Rosdeep Adekoya, 34, had been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to
a reduced charge of culpable homicide when she appeared at the high
court in Edinburgh on Friday.

Adekoya sparked a major police and public search for Mikaeel after
claiming he had disappeared from her home in Drylaw overnight.

Hundreds of people helped police, coastguards and other volunteers
search for him in local streets, woods and along the shoreline in the
two days before his body was found 20 miles away in woodland in Fife.

The crown accused Adekoya of punching Mikaeel on various occasions
between 12 and 15 January, striking his body against a hard object and
inflicting blunt force trauma injuries to his head and body.

She was also accused of failing to seek medical attention and murder.
Prosecutors said she wrapped the boy in a duvet, put his body in a
suitcase and drove him to a house in Fife where the family used to live
with a relative before burying him.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice told the court: "The basis for the plea
tendered being accepted is that the crown accepts that the accused had
no intention to kill Mikaeel and that the assault perpetrated upon him,
although severe, fell short of the wicked recklessness required for
murder."

The court heard that Adekoya's internet history showed searches
including "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".

Mikaeel died on the night of Tuesday 14 January from injuries inflicted
the previous Sunday.

His mother lost her temper when he was repeatedly sick after a trip to
a Nando's restaurant at the city's Fountain Park, the court heard. She
smacked him and struck him on the body and head with a clenched fist.
When Mikaeel was sick for a third time, she dragged him to the shower
by his arms and beat him heavily on his back as he lay over the bath
edge.

Prentice said: "It's likely that the internal damage was inflicted
during this last beating."

Over the next few days Mikaeel's condition worsened and he was kept out
of nursery. He was assaulted again on the Monday after being sick and
became listless.

His mother did not take him to a doctor because of the bruising, the
court heard.

By Tuesday night, Mikaeel was said to be quiet and was giving a limited
response to his mother's questions.

"He would have been in significant pain but was put to bed," Prentice
said. "The pain would have increased significantly while Mikaeel became
dangerously ill and finally dying as a result of the injuries inflicted
upon him by the accused.

"It was during that night that he died. The accused discovered his body
on the floor when wakening the children in the morning."

After the discovery, Adekoya took his twin sister to nursery before
driving straight to Fife.

Prentice said: "At the time, it appears that the accused had placed
Mikaeel's body in a suitcase and put him in the boot of her car."

Masts captured signals that showed her mobile phone travelling from
Edinburgh across the Forth bridge.

Adekoya dabbed her eyes repeatedly with tissues as the narrative of her
crimes was read to the court.

She waited until 7.15am on 16 January to dial 999 and report her son
missing. Officers who attended the flat reported that she initially
appeared "very upset and distressed".

But inconsistencies began to appear in her account of events to police,
who by the Friday evening "suspected that all was not as she had
indicated".

During a police interview she broke down and told officers: "It was an
accident and I panicked. I am going to go to the jail." Asked where
Mikaeel was, she replied: "In the woods behind my sister's house".

Adekoya then took officers to her son's body in the woods, telling them
he was "to the left under trees in a suitcase" which she had covered
with branches.

Prentice said: "Detective Sergeant Phil Richards undid the straps of
the suitcase and opened the camouflage material within which was the
body of Mikaeel Kular, who was quite clearly dead."

The final cause of death was found to be "blunt force abdominal
trauma".

Mikaeel had more than 40 injuries to his body, including bruises to his
back, chin and cheek, trauma to the brain, haemorrhage in the spinal
cord and injuries to his arms.

Prentice said: "If medical assistance had been called for, death might
not have resulted."

Defence counsel Brian McConnachie QC said the case was "truly tragic …
above all else for Mikaeel Kular in his loss of life at such an early
age".

He also pointed to the tragedy faced by the boy's father and the
"extraordinarily difficult" time for the family of the accused who were
having to come to terms with their grief and the fact that Adekoya caused the death.

McConnachie told the court the case was also a tragedy for Adekoya:
"Rosdeep Adekoya is not a monster. It would appear she has been a young
mother with a number of underlying problems, which the court will hear
about in due course, with five young children."

He went on: "It seems that there has been an accumulation of
circumstances which have caused Rosdeep Adekoya to act towards Mikaeel
over a relatively short period of time, less than 24 hours, in a manner
she has never acted in the past towards him, or to any of her other
children … It appears from every source … that this has been a brief
period when this young woman has lost her temper and behaved in a way
which is totally out of character for her."

He said she had to live with the consequences of her actions for the
rest of her life.

McConnachie said Adekoya initially tried to act as if nothing had
happened and had panicked.

The QC said that, until the next court hearing, the defence would still
be investigating "psychological aspects of this case as far as Mrs
Adekoya is concerned".

Mikaeel's father left the court after the hearing without making any
comment.

Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham of Police Scotland said:
"Mikaeel's disappearance and death deeply impacted on his family. It
also resonated across the community in which he lived.

"During the initial stages of the inquiry we appealed for information
about Mikaeel's whereabouts as concern for him grew. The local
community assisted us greatly in that search. What followed was an
incredible level of support and assistance to one of the biggest
missing person inquiries Police Scotland has undertaken."

He said the search was helped by specialist police investigative and
search support officers.

"Sadly our inquiries led us to Kirkcaldy the night after he was
reported missing and the discovery of his body," he said.

"I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the public
for all of their help during the search efforts and the continued
support provided to police and Mikaeel's family during the course of
this investigation."

A spokesperson for the Crown Office said Adekoya had pleaded guilty
toculpable homicide, attempting to defeat the ends of justice by
concealing Mikaeel's bodyand falsely claiming that he was a missing
person, instigating a large scale search.

"It would be inappropriate for us to comment further until the case has
concluded and sentence has been passed."

Sentencing will take place at the high court in Edinburgh on 25 August
25.