A young boy claimed to have "strangled" two-year-old Liam Fee on the day the toddler died, a murder trial has heard.

The youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told a social worker he had "been bad" and placed his hand over Liam's mouth for a minute while they were watching a film.

Liam had been "looking around" and continued to watch the television after he took his hand away, the boy said.

Liam's mother Rachel Trelfa or Fee, 31, and her civil partner Nyomi Fee, 28, deny murdering the toddler and falsely blaming his death on the boy, whose evidence was heard on Friday.

Jurors watched a video interview with the child they are alleged to have falsely blamed, which was recorded two days after Liam's death at a house in Fife on March 22, 2014.

The boy told a police officer and social worker he had been with the couple and Liam on that day.

When asked what had happened, he at first told them: "I don't want to tell anyone. It's a long story. I don't want to talk about it."

When he was asked about coming to the police station after the toddler's death, he said he had felt "sad".

After being repeatedly reassured by the adults that he was not in any trouble, he later told them that on the night in question he had been "bad".

The social worker asked: "What did you do that was bad?"

"I strangled Liam," the boy replied.

"How did you do that?" he was asked.

The boy could be seen putting his hand to his face, over his mouth, before telling the interviewers he had used just one hand.

When asked how long he had done this for, the boy replied "a minute".

He was asked: "What did Liam do when you were doing that?"

"Nothing," the boy replied.

"What happened when you took your hand away?" the social worker asked.

"He was sitting up," the boy said. He told the adults he had been watching a film and Liam was "looking around", adding "at the telly".

The High Court in Livingston was closed to the public as the recording was played to the jury.

On Thursday, jurors heard that after a post-mortem examination the cause of Liam's death had been recorded as blunt force injury to the torso.

The murder charge alleges the couple assaulted the toddler at a house in Fife on various occasions between March 15 and March 22, 2014.

They also face a catalogue of allegations of wilfully ill-treating and neglecting two other young boys over a period of more than two years.

The pair are accused of falsely telling others, including police, that a young boy - one of those they are accused of mistreating - was responsible for Liam's death. They deny all the charges.

The trial, before Judge Lord Burns, continues on Tuesday.

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