ABERDEEN GRANDMOTHER AND MOTHER DENY DECADES-OLD ABUSE CHARGES IN HARROWING TRIAL
A mother and grandmother are on trial, accused of systematically abusing, torturing, and neglecting three children in Aberdeen more than twenty years ago.Shirley Freeman, aged 51, and Julia Stephen, aged 68, face multiple charges at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, alleging that they physically and psychologically mistreated the now-adult children over several years.
It is claimed that Stephen, the children’s grandmother, subjected two of the youngsters to being hung by their ankles from a balcony on the top floor and forced one girl to sleep inside a dog basket.
Freeman is accused of repeatedly hitting the children with a belt, leaving them outside on a cold veranda while they were undressed, depriving them of food, and forcing them to use a bucket for their toilet needs.
One of the alleged victims, 28-year-old Meaghann Murphy, told the court she remains "deeply scarred" by the treatment she endured from her mother and grandmother.
Her brother, William Murphy, aged 24, broke down as he described the "fear and terror" he experienced as a child.
Both Stephen and Freeman deny all charges.
At the start of the proceedings, the jury heard from William Murphy, who recounted feeling "incredibly scared" as a 10 or 11-year-old, noting he had blisters and marks from being struck repeatedly with a black leather belt studded with metal.
He recalled that at around age seven or eight, his grandmother had dangled him and his younger sister over a balcony.
Meaghann Murphy also described witnessing the same incident, recalling Stephen threatening to "drop you on your f****** head." When questioned by prosecutor David Rogers about her feelings during this event, she responded that she was "terrified" and believed her grandmother "was going to drop them." William further testified that their mother would often lock him and his sister outside on the veranda, sometimes when he was shirtless and his sister was only dressed in a nightgown.
Both siblings reported finding knives under their pillows—Meaghann claimed she once awoke to find a meat cleaver in her bed.
They also recounted how their grandmother narrated frightening stories, including one about a woman named “Charlotte” she claimed had drowned and dismembered her five children in prison and then carried their bodies in black bin liners, feeding them to her dogs.
Stephen allegedly told her grandchildren that she could communicate "telepathically" with Charlotte, who was supposedly watching them.
Meaghann explained, “This was told to us as fact.
It was told to scare us into submission.
She said Charlotte was going to come back and drown my siblings and me—and I believed her.” The siblings also described discovering three black plastic bags in the bath upon returning home from school, each containing knives arranged like surgical tools.
“I was terrified.
I’m deeply scarred by what my mother and grandmother put me through,” Meaghann said.
She further testified that her mother would sometimes lock her in her bedroom and force her and her siblings to use a bucket for their needs, leaving her feeling "embarrassed and ashamed." Regarding food availability during their childhood, Ms Murphy described it as "limited," stating they often went several days without eating.
Defense lawyer Andrew Ormiston suggested they might have been “unruly” or “unpredictable,” to which Meaghann replied, “I was an extremely depressed and confused little girl.” He also questioned the credibility of their accounts, implying that the events might not have happened, but she firmly responded, “I absolutely refuse to accept that.” Ormiston pointed out a recent email William Murphy sent to police, implying that the responsibility for the abuse might lie with someone else rather than their mother.
William replied that their mother was definitely present during the assaults.
When asked if his email indicated he believed his mother was not criminally responsible, William insisted, “No, that’s incorrect.
My mother did assault me.” Julia Stephen’s solicitor, John McLeod, challenged William Murphy, suggesting that as an eight-year-old boy weighing around four stone, he would’ve been too heavy for his grandmother to lift over a balcony.
McLeod implied William was lying, a claim William denied, describing the experience as "incredibly terrifying" over the top-floor balcony.
In cross-examination of Meaghann Murphy, McLeod questioned her about the knives in black bin liners, suggesting she might be lying.
She responded that she was deeply traumatized by what she found that day.
The lawyer also questioned her about her claim of being made to sleep in a dog bed, which she insisted did happen, stating, “It did, it absolutely happened.”
