Rosdeep Kular is remanded in custody

The mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular has appeared in court for a second time charged with his murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

The boy’s body was discovered in Fife on Friday January 17, the day after he was reported missing from his home in the Drylaw area of Edinburgh.

Rosdeep Kular, 33, was charged under her married name of Adekoya when she made her initial appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court the following Monday.

She made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody during the brief private hearing before Sheriff Frank Crowe.

Kular returned to the court this afternoon for a full committal hearing, which was also held in private.

She again made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody. No further court dates have yet been fixed.

Following Mikaeel’s disappearance, Police Scotland issued his picture and appealed to the public for help in finding him.

Hundreds of volunteers from the local community joined police and specialist teams as they searched the surrounding area.

But in the early hours of Saturday January 18, police revealed that the body of a young boy had been discovered in Fife and that a woman had been detained.

Investigations were focused in an area of woodland behind a house in the Fife town of Kirkcaldy.

The boy’s mother was formally arrested and charged in connection with her son’s death later that Saturday.

Floral tributes, soft toys and candles were placed at a small park near his home.

Last Friday hundreds gathered on both banks of the Forth to release balloons and light candles in his memory.