By candlelight they gathered to pay their respects to tragic Kirkcaldy toddler Mikaeel Kular.
Hundreds of people descended on Linear Park in Edinburgh’s Muirhouse area to mark the first anniversary of the youngster’s death, killed by his own mother in a crime that shocked the nation.
The vigil for the three-year-old included a minute’s silence in the very spot where floral tributes and toys had been placed 12 months earlier as the truth around Mikaeel’s disappearance came to light.
Having been reported missing from mother Rosdeep Adekoya’s home in the city’s Ferry Gait Crescent, the body of her son was found stuffed in a suitcase near her sister’s home on Dunvegan Avenue, Kirkcaldy, days later.
He had been beaten by his mother, originally from the town, for being sick following a family meal.
Adekoya is now serving an 11-year prison sentence for culpable homicide.
Robert Pearson, who helped to organise Saturday’s event, said: “It is something that is still very raw in the community and something they talk about very frequently, but hopefully tonight will give them a bit more of a permanent closure.”
