Claims that social work visits to the home of tragic Mikaeel Kular were cancelled just months before he was killed by his mother have been fiercely denied by Fife Council.
Media reports stated two social work visits by the region were axed in December 2013, just a month before his death.
The local authority hit back at the claims, however, saying its officers had met Rosdeep Adekoya just weeks before she killed her son.
It had been claimed social workers had not made any contact with Adekoya and her three-year-old son since November 11 2013, before his death in January 2014.
However, Fife Council stressed that intended visits had merely been rescheduled and that social work staff did meet the family in December.
The reports came despite the publication of an independent review in April, which said Mikaeel’s death at the hands of his mother could not have been predicted.
Dougie Dunlop, head of children and families at Fife Council, said: “The loss of Mikaeel in such terrible circumstances has been particularly devastating for his family, those who worked with them, and two local communities in Edinburgh and Fife.
“It is important to note that the independent review which was carried out following Mikaeel’s death had all the information regarding contact with the children and this information was fully considered in it reaching the conclusion that Mikaeel’s death could not have been predicted.
“The frequency of visits to Mikaeel by the staff involved was commented on positively within the report, which said that he was seen regularly by workers and there was never any evidence of physical harm.
“Mikaeel was seen monthly following his return home, including on December 10, when his order was discharged.”
Mikaeel died two days after being beaten repeatedly by his mother Rosdeep Adekoya following a family day out in January 2014.
After discovering his lifeless body on the floor of their Edinburgh home in Ferry Gait Crescent, she put it in a suitcase and drove about 25 miles to Kirkcaldy to hide it in woodland behind her sister’s house.
Adekoya was jailed for 11 years after she admitted killing the three-year-old and hiding his body in a suitcase.