MY Adventure team keep their promise to North Edinburgh
Last year MY Adventure ran a hugely successful Crowdfunder campaign (http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/towford) to renovate an old school house in the Scottish Boarders for the children, young people and the families of North Edinburgh to spend time in a truly wonderful location. Continue reading Mikaeel Memorial Play Park completed at Towford
‘Loss, like love, never fades away into nothingness’ – Bangarpet Krishnaswamy, Mikaeel’s grandfather
A memorial service for Mikaeel Kular will be at Muirhouse Linear Park tomorrow, with a minute’s silence at 6.15pm. Members of the wee boy’s family will light a candle at the event.
Bangarpet Krishnaswamy, Mikaeel’s grandfather, said: “The last year has been a very difficult one for the family — an annus horribilis for all of us. The help and messages of comfort in our time of need was greatly appreciated then as it is now.
“We thank everyone for giving so freely their time in our time of need. I want to express on behalf of our family my most heartfelt gratitude to the entire North Edinburgh community for organising the memorial service to Mikaeel. Their tireless efforts and unconditional love have made a meaningful contribution to Mikaeel’s short life.”
MY Adventure reach Towford target
Money raised to pay for a memorial for little Mikaeel Kular has been donated to a local youth project in Muirhouse. The money has helped MY Adventure to upgrade an adventure centre for thousands of local children to enjoy for years to come.
MY Adventure used a crowdfunding site to try to raise £6000 for urgent repairs to Towford, a dilapidated outdoors centre near Jedburgh. The social enterprise was over halfway toward it’s target when trustees of the Mikaeel Kular Memorial Fund decided to contribute the donations they had received – over £3000 – to the Towford venture, making the MY dream become a reality.
It’s great news for MY Adventure and proof that joy can spring from tragedy.
Jonny Kinross, Director of MY Adventure, said: “Towford Outdoor Centre will be an affordable outdoor resource for children, families, communities and businesses to stay or use for years to come. The centre, which was formerly a 19th century school, will be entrusted to the Muirhouse community and safeguarded by registered local charity Muirhouse Youth Development Group.
“Our centre will be accessible to thousands of local people, groups, businesses and school pupils all year, next year and for generations to come.
“Eighty official backers have surpassed our target of £6000, with £35000 raised from individual supporters and local organisations in just two weeks. ‘These people felt either connected to Muirhouse or inspired by what the centre will come to be and mean to local people.
‘It was this that inspired the Mikaeel Kular Memorial Fund to pledge such a large amount to our campaign. That money will secure his legacy and will specifically help create a children’s play area in the 17 acre grounds dedicated to him.
“‘It’s a testament to how his community showed strength, solidarity and compassion at a time of their greatest need.”
Three year old Mikaeel Kular died in his Muirhouse home in January after being subjected to three-day beating by his mother. Rosdeep Adekoya claimed her son had gone missing, sparking off an unprecedented local search, but Mikaeel’s body was found two days later. She was subsequently jailed for eleven years.
Mikaeel’s disappearance galvanised the local community and thousands took part in the search for the wee boy. When the tragic truth became known a fund was set up to create a memorial to remember Mikaeel – and MY Adventure’s Towford Centre will now ensure that Mikaeel’s memory will live on.
Robert Pearson, chairman of Tenants & Residents in Muirhouse (TRIM), who initiated the collection for the memorial, said: ”Our thanks to everyone who donated, I know Mikaeel’s’ family are touched by the response of our community. It was always going to be difficult to decide just what to use the money on.
”Reading all the suggestions and talking to residents who visited the community shop, I got a sense of outdoor, play area and family activities are what people are looking for. When a resident mentioned the Towford Centre, I immediately thought it ticked all boxes. Mikaeel wasn’t allowed to grow up and enjoy his childhood – his legacy will ensure other children can.’
‘“You clearly needed help, but did not know how to ask for it.”
Rosdeep Adekoya, the mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular, has been jailed for eleven years after she admitted killing her son and hiding his body in a suitcase.
The 34 year old mother of five was initially charged with murder, but plead guilty to the reduced charge of culpable homicide.
Sentencing Adekoya in Edinburgh’s High Court yesterday, Judge Lord Glennie told Adekoya what she did was “cruel and inexcusable”.
He said: “Striking a child even once is bad enough. Striking him heavily and repeatedly with hand and fist when he was being sick again and again simply beggars belief.
“Mikaeel was by all accounts a healthy, happy little boy. By your actions, however unintended, you have not only robbed Mikaeel of his young life but left a gaping hole in the lives of all who loved him.”
Lord Glennie said he accepted Adekoya’s remorse was genuine and heartfelt, and continued: “You are clearly an intelligent and articulate young woman. “There is no history of violence by you towards any of your children. That makes it all the more difficult to understand your actions. I do not suppose that you really understand why you did what you did.”
Mikaeel died two days after being beaten by his mother at the family’s home in Muirhouse in January.
She then put his body in a suitcase before burying it behind her sister’s house in Kirkcaldy, but called police to say that Mikaeel had disappeared from her home – she claimed Mikaeel had got out of bed and climbed on a stool to unlock the front door of his home.
Police officers who attended the flat reported that she initially appeared “very upset and distressed” but inconsistencies began to appear in her account of events, who by the Friday evening “suspected that all was not as she had indicated”.
The alert led to a huge public search, called off when police enquiries led to the discovery of Mikaeel’s body in Fife two days later.
The truth of Mikaeel’s final days were revealed in Court.
His mother, who has a history of depression, “lost her temper” when he was repeatedly sick following a trip to a Nando’s restaurant at the city’s Fountain Park. She smacked him and struck him on the body and head with a clenched fist, the court was told.
When Mikaeel was sick for a third time, his mother dragged him to the shower by his arms and “beat him heavily” on his back as he lay over the bath edge – it’s thought that the internal damage was inflicted during this last beating.
Over the next few days Mikaeel’s condition worsened and he was kept off nursery at Flora Stevenson’s. He was assaulted again on the Monday after being sick and became “listless” – the court was told his mother did not take him to a doctor because of the bruising.
By Tuesday night, Mikaeel was said to be “quiet” and was giving a “limited” response to his mother’s questions: he died on the night of Tuesday 14 January from injuries inflicted the previous Sunday, and Adekoya subsequently admitted wrapping Mikaeel’s body in a duvet cover, putting it in a suitcase and driving to Dunvegan Avenue in Kirkcaldy, where she hid the case under a bush in woods behind a house.
The final cause of death was found to be “blunt force abdominal trauma” – Mikaeel had more than 40 separate 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.
Adekoya pleaded guilty to repeatedly punching her son and causing his body to hit against a hard object or inflicting blunt injuries on his head and body between 12 and 15 January at their home in Ferry Gait Crescent.
The local community – who responded magnificently to appeals for help in searching for Mikaeel – is now discussing ideas to create a lasting memorial to the wee boy whose short life touched so many lives.
Rosdeep Adekoya, the mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular, has admitted killing her son and hiding his body in a suitcase. Adekoya had originally been charged with murder but admitted the reduced charge of culpable homicide when she appeared at Edinburgh’s High Court yesterday. She will be sentenced next month.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice said: “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.”
However there is some anger that the Crown agreed to the reduced charges. One neighbour, who was involved in the two-day search for the little boy and was present at the High Court, said the decision was ‘a disgrace. This was murder’.
Mikaeel died two days after being beaten by Rosdeep Adekoya at the family’s flat in Muirhouse in January. She put his body in a suitcase, which she then dumped behind her sister’s house in Kirkcaldy. Ms Adekoya told police that Mikaeel had disappeared from the family home, sparking a massive major two-day search.
Adekoya also admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice by pretending to police that Mikaeel had gone missing.
She pleaded guilty to repeatedly punching her son and causing his body to hit against a hard object or inflicting blunt injuries on his head and body between 12 and 15 January at their home in Ferry Gait Crescent.
She also admitted wrapping Mikaeel’s body in a duvet cover, putting it in a suitcase and driving to Dunvegan Avenue in Kirkcaldy, Fife, where she hid the case under a bush in woods behind a house.
She had called 999 to report her son missing to police, telling officers he got out of bed and climbed on a stool to unlock the front door of his home.
She admitted causing a major search for her son, involving police, the fire service, coastguard, mountain rescue crews and members of the public.
The court heard harrowing details of how Mikaeel died on the night of Tuesday 14 January from injuries inflicted the previous Sunday. Ms Adekoya then took Mikaeel’s twin sister to nursery at Flora Stevenson’s School before driving over to Fife with the three year old boy’s body in the boot of the car.
The court heard that Adekoya later broke down during a police interview and told officers: “It was an accident and I panicked. I am going to go to the jail.” She subsequently then took police to her son’s body in the woods, where it was found in a suitcase covered with branches.
The cause of death was found to be “blunt force abdominal trauma” – Mikaeel had more than 40 separate injuries to his body.
Sentence was deferred until 25 August.
The mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of her son following the discovery of a body in Kirkcaldy, police said late last night.
Rosdeep Kular, who is 33, was detained on Friday night and has now been charged. She is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court tomorrow (Monday).
Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham told press that formal identification of a body found late on Friday night had now taken place and that the investigation continued.
Mikaeel’s disappearance from his Ferry Gait Crescent home was reported to police on Thursday morning and sparked off the biggest missing person search ever seen in the city. Hundreds of local volunteers joined the search for the wee boy, and many of them joined together again to attend a packed memorial service at Muirhouse St Andrew’s church.
ACC Graham said late last night: “During the course of today the investigation into the disappearance of Mikaeel Kular has continued at pace.
Following formal identification, I can now confirm that a 33-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in connection with Mikaeel’s death.
“The woman is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.”
He again thanked rescue teams and the public for their help in the search for Mikaeel.
“I would like to again recognise the overwhelming public assistance that Police Scotland have received during the course of this very complex investigation. This includes his family and friends, with whom our thoughts remain,” he said.
ACC Graham said inquiries were continuing, and went on: “I ask that anybody who has any information that they feel would assist the investigation contacts the police.”
A steady stream of people – including many children – continue to leave tributes in the park close to the wee boy’s home:
Woman – believed to be mother – detained
A body, believed to be that of three year old Mikaeel Kular, has been found in Fife. The news came just before midnight and police also confirmed that a woman – reported to be the boy’s mother – has been detained.
Late last night senior police officer Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, clearly distraught, broke the news that everyone had dreaded – but had increasingly anticipated.
ACC Graham said: “The investigation into the disappearance of Mikaeel Kular has been wide-ranging and fast-moving.
“As a result of these inquiries I can confirm that we have recovered the body of a young boy in Fife shortly before midnight. We have informed the family and the investigation continues.
“A person has been detained in connection with the death.
“I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has shown such a fantastic response to the incident in terms of assisting the police with searches and in terms of our appeals for information and coming forward to assist with information.
“Without such vital assistance the police cannot do their job assisting those who live and work in our communities.
“As a result of this development clearly there will now be no requirement for any further help in relation to searches in the Drylaw area.”
For three days of his short life Mikaeel has been the most famous wee boy on the planet, and information about just how, when and why an innocent three year old lost his life will follow over the coming days.
For now, though, North Edinburgh will slowly get back to mundane, everyday life. Instead of joining mass searches, residents will be shopping, going to football games, cleaning windows and a hundred and one other humdrum activities. North Local Office and West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre will return to the normal routine.
But, with the eyes of the world on our neighbourhood, the North Edinburgh community can be very proud of it’s magnificent response to an appeal for help. It’s deeply sad that such an uplifting community effort was unable to help achieve the happy ending we’d all hoped so much to see.
And after Mikaeel, North Edinburgh will never be quite the same place again.
