Mikaeel Kular: Mother Rosdeep appears in court over murder

Mikaeel's body was found in Kirkcaldy following a massive search operation

The mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular has made her first public appearance in court accused of his murder in January.

Rosdeep Adekoya, 34, is accused of beating Mikaeel over a four-day period.

She is also accused of putting his body in a suitcase and burying it in woodland at a house in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard she is accused of phoning 999 to report him missing, knowing he was dead. There will be a further hearing on 25 July.

Mrs Adekoya, who is appearing under her married name, did not enter a plea during the three-minute hearing.

She was dressed in black, wore glasses and sat beside two security officers. She showed no emotion.

Mrs Adekoya, originally of Drylaw, Edinburgh, was said to have claimed that Mikaeel disappeared from her home in Edinburgh in January.

Hundreds of members of the local community helped police search for the three-year-old in the two days before his body was discovered 20 miles away in woodland in Fife.

The Crown, prosecuting, alleged Mrs Adekoya beat Mikaeel on various occasions between 12 and 15 January, struck his body against a hard object and inflicted blunt force trauma injuries to his head and body.

She was also accused of failing to seek medical attention and murdering him.

The Crown said she wrapped Mikaeel 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 and buried him in woodland there.