[Faline]

A three-year-old boy kept in a ‘cell’ by his cruel parents was so hungry he ripped out and ate his own hair.
Mother Lisa Brooks, 25, and stepfather Tomas Lewis, 22, were jailed today for locking their child in a tiny bare room with no lights or heating.
A court heard that the boy was ‘hours away from death’ - suffering from starvation and dehydration when he was rescued and taken to hospital.
He was discovered just three weeks before Christmas 2010 at the address in Trevethin, near Pontypool, South Wales, after a social worker received anonymous tip-offs.
Doctor Paul Davies said: ‘He was eating food like he’d never eaten before.
‘He had ripped out and eaten his own hair. He was extremely hungry and dehydrated.’
The police officer who saved his life was so shocked by what he found that he was moved to tears.
PC James Periam said: ‘I found the boy locked in a bare cell-like room. There was no lighting, the radiator was turned off and it was snowing outside.
‘All there was in the room was a potty, a bowl and a fork. The child and walls were covered in faeces and when I held the boy he was flopping on my shoulder.
‘His eyes rolled to back of his head with his breathing shallow, he was ice cold and lifeless.’
The court heard how the boy had two black eyes, a one-inch gash on his forehead and ligature marks on his arms from being tied to a bed.
The boy was rushed to the nearby Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny, South Wales, for emergency treatment.
Ward manager Ann Beard said: ‘If he was not brought in when he was, he would have died in hours - the weather was so cold outside.’
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Brooks and Lewis had even taken camera phone footage of the boy in the room.
The pair, of Pontypool, South Wales, pleaded guilty to wilful neglect of a child. Brooks was sentenced to three and Lewis to three and a half years.
A judge at Cardiff Crown Court lifted reporting restrictions so the cruel pair could be named and shamed.
The boy has since been adopted by a foster family and shows no signs of psychological damage.
The defendants told police the boy was put in the room because he harmed himself and they were fearful he would harm their baby.
The court was shown mobile phone footage they had been taken to illustrate this.
It showed the boy naked in the room crying and hitting himself, with the defendants ordering him to stand facing the wall and saying he would not have any breakfast if he didn't do so.
Judge John Curran told them: ‘All children are entitled to a secure and happy childhood.
‘Depriving them of this is very serious and this is what you have done with your abusive and sadistic behaviour.’
Detective Inspector Mark Johnson, of Gwent Police's public protection unit said: ‘There is no doubt that the action taken by the agencies involved in this complex case ultimately helped to avert a tragedy and thankfully the child is now doing well.'
Des Mannion, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children's head of service for Wales, described it as a ‘disturbing case’.
He said: ‘This vulnerable child had been subjected to living in horrific conditions, locked in a room for extended periods by the adults who should have loved and protected him.’
But Mr Mannion said the situation is not unique - with almost one in ten children in the UK neglected.
He urged any parents who feel they can't cope to seek support or anyone who suspects a child is being abused to phone police, or the NSPCC on 0808 8005000.

[brushdaft]

I was reading about this earlier, I can't understand why they got such short prison sentences, they will be out in under 2 years! Makes me sick.

[Steve]

Bloody hell those sentences they got are a joke, who knows what mental scars that kid will be left with, fucking shit head parents.

[HairyGrape]

Omg that poor poor baby. This story breaks my heart. Even worse is there are thousands of other children in the UK who's fate is much worse.

[Drumstickshredder]

Evil scum.

[DiamondSmiles]

Poor baby! I am posting this comment much too often!

Throw the creatures in the pit with all of the others! What could that boy possibly have done? He didn't ask to be born. If he had, I'm sure he'd choose a real mother and father instead of a sperm donor and incubator!

[Pyramid_Head]

People fucking disgust me.

[Cumulonimbus]

3.5 years in prison at the most? What a joke.

[mcpronoun]

Only 3 years.... for that kind of abuse...... .

[collaredgirl65]