Appeal Against Conviction By Rachel Trelfa Or Fee Against Her Majesty's Advocate
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Lord Turnbull,Lord Bracadale,Lord Justice Clerk |
| Neutral Citation | [2017] HCJAC 13 |
| Court | High Court of Justiciary |
| Date | 09 March 2017 |
| Docket Number | HCA/2016 |
| Published date | 09 March 2017 |
APPEAL COURT, HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY
[2017] HCJAC 13
HCA/2016/000367/XC
Lord Justice Clerk
Lord Bracadale
Lord Turnbull
OPINION OF THE COURT
delivered by LORD TURNBULL
in
APPEAL AGAINST CONVICTION
by
RACHEL TRELFA or FEE
Appellant
against
HER MAJESTY’S ADVOCATE
Respondent
Appellant: McConnachie, QC, Anderson; Paterson Bell (for Ferguson Walker, Solicitors, Glenrothes)
Respondent: Prentice, QC, Sol Adv, AD; Crown Agent
9 March 2017
Introduction
[1] The appellant Rachel Trelfa or Fee is aged 31. Along with her co-accused Nyomi Fee she was convicted after trial in the High Court at Livingston on 31 May 2016 of a number of charges concerning conduct directed at her three children, JJ, MJ and Liam Fee. The charges of which they were both convicted were as follows:
“(001) between 12 January 2012 and 22 March 2014, both dates inclusive, at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE being a person having attained the age of 16 years and who has parental responsibilities in relation to a child or young person under that age or has charge or care of a child or such a young person namely JJ, born 26 February 2007, c/o Police Service of Scotland, Kirkcaldy, did wilfully ill treat, neglect, and expose said child in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health in respect that on various occasions between said dates at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE did
(a) force him to sit on a chair whilst naked or wearing underwear and write the same sentence repeatedly on paper or in a notebook;
(b) compel him to sit and stand naked or wearing underwear on a step and a chair, known by him as the ‘naughty step’, and on occasions bind him to said chair;
(d) put him to bed to sleep at bedtime and thereafter refuse to allow him to leave his bed or his bedroom to urinate and thereby cause him to urinate in his bed and strike him on the body with your hand if he left his bedroom after bedtime to urinate;
(e) compel him to stand naked under a cold shower, for prolonged periods of time as a punishment for urinating in his bed;
(f) push him and tell him to stand still if his body shook while standing naked under a cold shower;
(g) after forcing him to stand naked under a cold shower make him stand on a towel and refuse to let him dry himself;
(h) construct a cage using a metal fire guard and pieces of wood, lock him in said cage, force him to sit or lie down in said cage naked or in his underwear for prolonged periods of time during the day and night and to sleep there, bind his arms and legs to said cage with cable ties, string, the cord from a dressing gown or similar articles to his injury;
(i) make him sleep in a cot and bind his arms and legs to said cot with belts from a coat, cord from a dressing gown or similar articles;
(j) put a chair in said cot and bind his feet to the chair using bandages and bind his arms to the cot with the belt of a coat and leave him to lie and sleep there for prolonged periods of time to his injury;
(m) having soiled his underwear force him to eat his own excrement with his hands;
(o) put soap in his mouth;
(r) call him names;
(t) deprive him of food as a punishment;
(u) knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that he had sustained an injury to his feet in January 2014, the exact date and cause of said injury being to the Prosecutor unknown, and was in need of medical aid, did fail to provide and seek appropriate, timely and adequate medical aid for him ;
(w) compel him to strike his brother MJ on the penis with a shoe and a tube of E45 cream, compel him to strike said MJ on the body with a toy and compel him to slap said MJ on the head and body if MJ moved whilst on the ‘naughty step’:
CONTRARY to the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, Section 12(1) as amended;
(002) on various occasions between 12 January 2012 and 22 March 2014, both dates inclusive, at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE did assault JJ, born 26 February 2007, c/o Police Service of Scotland, Kirkcaldy and did repeatedly strike his naked buttocks with your hands, punch him on the body and cut his penis with a pair of scissors to his injury;
(003) between 12 January 2012 and 22 March 2014, both dates inclusive, at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE being a person having attained the age of 16 years and who has parental responsibilities in relation to a child or young person under that age or has charge or care of a child or such a young person namely MJ, born 26 February 2007, c/o Police Service of Scotland, Kirkcaldy, did wilfully ill treat, neglect, and expose said child in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health in respect that on various occasions between said dates at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE did
(a) put him to bed to sleep at bedtime and thereafter refuse to allow him to leave his bed or his bedroom to urinate and thereby cause him to urinate in his bed and strike him on the body with your hand if he left his bedroom after bedtime to urinate;
(b) compel him to stand naked under a cold shower for prolonged periods of time as a punishment for urinating in his bed;
(c) shower him with cold water, dry him and shower him again with cold water and do this repeatedly for prolonged periods of time;
(d) tell him to stand still if his body shook while standing naked under a cold shower;
(e) after standing naked under a cold shower make him stand on a towel and refuse to allow him to dry himself;
(f) compel him to sit and stand naked or in his underwear for prolonged periods of time on a step known by him as the ‘naughty step’;
(i) put soap in his mouth;
(l) compel him to eat his own vomit;
(n) call him names;
(o) tie him naked with the cord of a dressing gown or similar article to a chair in your bedroom where you kept rats, snakes and a boa constrictor, tell him that the boa constrictor ate naughty boys and force him to sleep there on his own whilst tied to said chair in the dark overnight;
(p) compel him to stand naked or wearing his underwear against or facing a wall for prolong periods of time without moving and induce said JJ to slap him if he did move;
(r) deprive him of food as a punishment;
(s) tie him to a chair and force him to sleep in that position; and
(t) compel him to strike the penis of his brother said JJ with a shoe, compel him to repeatedly strike said JJ on the body with a toy and strike said MJ if he did not do so:
CONTRARY to the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, Section 12(1) as amended;
(004) on various occasions between 12 January 2012 and 22 March 2014, both dates inclusive, at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE did assault MJ, born 26 February 2007, c/o Police Service of Scotland, Kirkcaldy, and did repeatedly strike his naked buttocks with your hands and punch him on the body;
(005) between 12 January 2012 and 22 March 2014, both dates inclusive, at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife, The Victoria Hospital, Hayfield Road, Kirkcaldy, The Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh and elsewhere you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE being a person having attained the age of 16 years and who has parental responsibilities in relation to a child or young person under that age or has charge or care of a child or such a young person namely Liam Johnson (referred to as Liam Fee in the Post Mortem report lodged as a production by the Prosecutor), born 12 August 2011, now deceased, did wilfully ill treat, neglect, and expose said child in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health in respect that on various occasions between said dates at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife, The Victoria Hospital, Hayfield Road, Kirkcaldy, The Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh and elsewhere you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE did
(a) leave him in his pushchair and bed for prolonged periods of time, place a blanket over said pushchair and over his face and head, leave him in a darkened room and thereby fail to provide him with adequate exercise, physical and mental stimulation;
(b) fail to provide him with adequate food;
and
(d) knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that said Liam Johnson was injured, unwell and in need of medical aid having inflicted blunt force trauma to his head and body by means to the Prosecutor unknown did between 15 March 2014 and 22 March 2014 both dates inclusive, fail to provide and seek appropriate, timely and adequate medical aid for him:
CONTRARY to the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, Section 12(1) as amended;
(006) on various occasions between 12 January 2012 and 14 March 2014, both dates inclusive, at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE did assault Liam Johnson (referred to as Liam Fee in the Post Mortem report lodged as a production by the Prosecutor), born 12 August 2011, now deceased, then residing there, and did inflict blunt force trauma to his head and body by means to the Prosecutor unknown to his injury;
(007) on various occasions between 15 March 2014 and 22 March 2014, both dates inclusive at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife you NYOMI FEE and RACHEL TRELFA OR FEE did assault Liam Johnson (referred to as Liam Fee in the Post Mortem report lodged as a production by the Prosecutor), born 12 August 2011, residing there and did repeatedly inflict blunt force trauma to his head and body by means to the Prosecutor unknown whereby he was so severely injured that he died there on 22 March 2014 and you did murder him;
and
(008) between 22 March 2014 and 30 April 2014, both dates inclusive, at 21 Donald Crescent, Thornton, Fife, Kirkcaldy Police Station, St Brycedale...
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