Police found a makeshift cage, chains and cable ties when they searched the property where two-year-old Liam Fee was murdered.

Animal welfare experts also had to remove numerous snakes and rats from the Fife flat where Rachael Trelfa and Nyomi Fee subjected Liam and two other young boys to years of "horrific" abuse.

Images released by the Crown Office show a fire guard which was used to make the cage where one of the boys was regularly tied up and forced to sleep naked.

They also show a bed with a tether attached, a chain and a box of cable ties which were used to tie the boy's hands to the cage, causing him pain and swelling which led to jokes from the women about him having "pudding hands".

By the time the ambulance crew arrived on the night of Liam's death in March 2014, the cage had been dismantled but the evidence of the two older boys in the women's care revealed how it was used as a punishment.

The SSPCA removed 9 snakes and several rats from the property, which were also used to terrify the children.

The trial heard that one of the boys was told a boa constrictor "ate naughty boys" and was left tied to a chair in a room with it overnight.

Jurors also broke down in tears as they were shown police scenes of crime footage from the property, taken just hours after Liam's death, which went through every room in the flat.

Numerous family photographs could be seen on the walls, while toys were also scattered around the property.

However, when it came to Liam's room, which had posters of cartoon characters on the walls and numerous toys stacked up, several jury members wept as the camera showed the toddler's lifeless body.

Wearing pyjamas with cartoon characters, he was covered in a duvet up to his neck and looked as though he was sleeping.

After the footage was shown the jurors had to ask for a break to allow them time to compose themselves.

Trelfa and Fee also wept when they saw Liam's body.