Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Abusive foster carer from Fife loses fight to clear name from beyond the grave

The family of Sandra Harper - who died last year - claimed she was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh today threw out her appeal.

The family of Sandra Harper - who died last year - claimed she was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh today threw out her appeal.

A “horrible” foster mum who abused a group of children has lost a bid to quash her conviction for maltreatment from beyond the grave.

Sandra Harper forced one girl to eat vomit and rubbed a boy’s face in urine-soaked bedding during a two-decade-long campaign of abuse.

Harper hit children in her care, also shouting and swearing at them – calling them “little b******s, little pigs, little tinks”.

The 63-year-old told Peterhead Sheriff Court “sometimes it was reprimanding them and sometimes it was in banter”, claiming: “It was like saying God bless you, to me”.

But Harper – who grew up in Dunfermline and fostered 35 children over 23 years – was convicted of eight charges, including four assaults.

Carer family’s ‘miscarriage of justice’ claim

A sheriff said she had been “nasty, verbally abusive, cruel, vindictive, violent” towards her victims and “denied” them a childhood full of love and care and fun.

Sandra’s husband Andrew Harper, 63, was also found guilty by a jury of three assault charges.

Sandra Harper died following her trial, which ended in her receiving 300 hours community service for her crimes.

In January 2024, it emerged her non-suspicious death was the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal from Police Scotland.

However, her family believed that she was a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Sandra and Andrew Harper
Sandra and Andrew Harper outside Peterhead Sheriff Court. Image: DC Thomson

Her lawyers were allowed to go to the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh in a bid to quash her conviction.

On Wednesday, defence advocate Ximena Vengoechea addressed judges Lord Doherty, Lord Matthews and Lord Beckett.

She told them their colleague who presided over Harper’s trial – Sheriff Ian Wallace – had not explained the law properly when addressing jurors at the trial.

However, the appeal court couldn’t find any fault with how Sheriff Wallace spoke to the jury.

Lord Doherty said: “The appeal is refused.”

Abusive carer claimed children were lying

During proceedings, the court heard how the offences against five victims were carried out by the Harpers between 1985 and 2002 in their home in Cairnbulg.

The jury heard Sandra Harper repeatedly struck some of them on the head.

One boy, who would wet his bed and had his face rubbed in the soaked linen, fell and struck his head on a wardrobe following one such assault.

She denied any wrongdoing during her trial.

Prosecutor Ruairidh McAllister asked Sandra Harper: “Your position would be that it’s all made up?”

She replied: “Yeah”.

Sentencing Harper, Sheriff Ian Wallace acknowledged she had “suffered some mental and physical issues” over the period in question.

He told her: “As a foster carer, you were entrusted to look after and love the children. You were nasty, verbally abusive, cruel, vindictive, violent.”

Andrew Harper was given 180 hours of community service.

Now, Sandra Harper’s convictions remain in place.

For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.