An evil mum and stepdad who left their starving autistic son just days from death in a locked attic room have been sentenced to prison.
Lorna Hewitt, 43, and husband Craig Hewitt, 42, were found guilty following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court last month and locked up for six years, Yorkshire Live reports.
The sick couple left 22-year-old Matthew Langley to languish in a room covered in rubbish and human faeces, with no access to a toilet or washing facilities for more than seven months.
Medical experts say he was only fed a few hundred calories a day, with food delivered in a box to his room as he was banned from eating with the rest of the family, the jury heard.
The Hewitts' horrific crimes came to light when paramedics were called to the house after Matthew collapsed in June last year. Experts estimated he was just a few days from death and was covered in bruises and abrasions.
His finger and toenails had been allowed to grow so long they were causing him pain and his teeth were also severely stained with orange plaque. The court heard Matthew had to be cleaned by nursing staff upon his arrival at hospital.
Judge Michael Slater told Sheffield Crown Court during the sentencing on Friday that during the seven months Matthew was kept prisoner he "must have experienced increasing feelings of anxiety, confusion, anger, loneliness and pain as he crawled around on his hands and knees."
Following the trial, South Yorkshire Police released shocking pictures of the room where Matthew was kept prisoner.
The court heard that at the time of Matthew's collapse, his mother was suffering from anorexia, and his stepfather from depression.
Mitigating for Craig Hewitt, Tana Marie Adkin, said there was no attempt to conceal the crimes and Matthew had free will to go to the authorities.
She said: "The court will be aware that Craig Hewitt was responsible for paying the bills, earning the money. Lorna Hewitt was responsible for the care of Matthew, particularly because she was his mum and he was older and not the natural son of Craig Hewitt. Because of his autism he preferred to be cared for by his mum."
Ms Adkin added that Craig Hewitt tried to bond with Matthew and build a relationship which was "thwarted" by his autism, and he was "devastated" by what had happened to his stepson.
John Harrison, for Lorna Hewitt, said she had been described in a report written by clinical psychologist Rekha Davis as an "emotionally vulnerable woman" who feared being blamed by her husband for what had happened to Matthew.
He said she told the author of the report she had been in previous abusive relationships and had said: "I don't want to say too much as I don't know what he [Mr Hewitt] will make of it."
Mr Harrison added: "The author of the report is of the view she is vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation and her capacity to consider the consequences of her actions is limited."
The court heard Lorna Hewitt also suffers from PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) after living through a "traumatic childhood."
As he jailed Lorna Hewitt to a sentence of six years for causing/allowing serious injury to a vulnerable adult and false imprisonment, Judge Michael Slater told her the crime had amounted to a "grave abuse of trust by a mother to her son."
He added that she was well aware of support available from social services and medical authorities but "during that time approached neither in a significant way while Matthew wasted in his attic bedroom."
Craig Hewitt was also jailed for a total of six years for causing/allowing serious injury to a vulnerable adult and false imprisonment.
They will both serve up to half of their sentences in custody before being released on licence.
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