Residents who live where tragic toddler Mikaeel Kular was killed by his mum pay tribute a decade on

RESIDENTS who live in the community where tragic toddler Mikaeel Kular was killed by his mother have paid tribute to him a decade on.

The three-year-old was slain by his mother Rosdeep Adekoya on January 14, 2014, at their home in Ferry Gait Crescent, Edinburgh.

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Locals spent days searching for the toddler after his mum claimed he had disappeared rather than admit she had wrapped his body in a duvet, stuffed it in a suitcase and dumped it near her sister’s home in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

Last night residents who lived yards away from where the killing that shook Scotland happened told how they would never forget the tragedy.

Julie MacLeod, 50, campaigned for justice for Mikaeel in the wake of his death.

But the mum-of-three felt let down by the justice system.

She said: “It will never leave this community. Nobody will ever forget that wee boy, ever, be it ten years or twenty years. Every year it’s the same at this time of the year. It always shows up on social media.

“It still feels like last week to be honest. It doesn’t feel right knowing that she is out.

“I think everyone lights a candle for him every year. That will be done, but I think it’s done in private now. It still hits hard that he never got the justice he deserved.

“She has gone on to live a normal life. Hopefully as a mother she’ll pay for the rest of her life in her own head for what she has done.” 

Linda Day, 72, a retired matron, who lives near to the block of flats where Mikaeel was killed helped search for him. She said: “It was an unnecessary tragedy. It affected the whole community because we were all out. It was horrible, shouting the wee boy’s name in the street.

“It was so sad. We searched all over. We all got together every now and again a few times a day just in case he had fallen somewhere.

“We had to try.”

She said the community was dismayed when they discovered the lad had been killed by his own mum. She added: “We were disgusted.”

Housewife Lara Faichney, 39, lives near the block of flats where Mikaeel was killed.

She intends to leave a tribute for him at a memorial where people gathered to remember him in the years following his death.

The mum-of-five recalled: “I looked out the window and there were police everywhere, police dogs. I’m right opposite. I still remember it. There were forensics.

“She’s out now. It’s absolutely shocking.

“There’s a wee bit through the path where the stones are where people put flowers and teddy bears. I’m going to put something down for him. Some flowers and a wee bear or something.”

Mum Simone Evelyn, 38 – who lives round the corner from where the killing took place – was involved in the bid to find the toddler.

She said the crime “still sends shivers” down her spine.

She added: “No one can forget that dreadful morning news broke in my area of him being missing.

“I looked out my side living room window to police everywhere then began the search. She should have been locked up for life. She took her son’s innocent little life in such a disgusting evil manner. I still struggle to understand why.

“She’s a monster and I will always think of her in this way. She lives in a new house while Mikaeel never got to live his life. It’s heartbreaking.”

We told how Adekoya, 43, was freed from Cornton Vale prison in April 2021.

The party-mad mum of five, who frequently left her kids alone to go clubbing and take cocaine, battered Mikaeel to death in January 2014 after he fell ill at their home in Drylaw, Edinburgh.

Last night Police Scotland deputy chief constable Malcolm Graham said: “Mikaeel Kular’s disappearance had a profound effect on his family, communities across Scotland and all those involved in the investigation.

“My thoughts are very much with his family and friends at the 10th anniversary of his death. Mikaeel will not be forgotten.

“I am sure he will also be remembered in the community where local people showed incredible support for our efforts to find Mikaeel, turning out in their hundreds to search after he was reported missing.

“Every criminal death is a human tragedy, particularly those involving children.

“Police Scotland has continued to prioritise tackling and reducing homicides, as evidenced by the phenomenal record of solving each one in Scotland since 2013.

“Incidents such as this are, thankfully, extremely rare and this case remains one of the biggest missing person inquiries undertaken by Police Scotland.”