A DEPRAVED mum and stepdad who kept their autistic son captive in a squalid attic for seven months have today been jailed.
Matthew Langley, 22, was starved until his weight dropped to just six stone while he was locked away in the faeces and vomit-strewn bedroom.
Craig Hewitt, 42, and Lorna Hewitt, 43, left Matthew, who had learning difficulties, irritable bowel syndrome, incontinence and arthritis, "close to death".
The evil couple have now been jailed for six years after they were convicted of false imprisonment.
Chilling photos of Matthew's hellish living conditions showed rubbish covering the filthy floor of the cramped attic room in Sheffield.
Police scrambled to the home found faeces and vomit over the floor and bedding and flies buzzing through the room.
A key was also left on the outside of the door where the Hewitts had locked Matthew away as a prisoner.
He was found dehydrated and "with his life hanging in the balance" on June 2, 2020.
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The victim was so malnourished his bones were jutting out through his skin and he had suffered damage to a kidney with high sodium levels relating to severe dehydration.
Medics also discovered abrasions that suggested he had been crawling around on all fours.
Nicholas Campbell QC, prosecuting, said: "His sodium levels were dangerously high. They measured 180. They were so high they could shut down his brain and kill him. Anything above 145, there is a real chance of death.
"The Home Office pathologist examined the injuries and said the abrasions and bruises were consistent in his view with Matthew having been crawling on all fours over objects in his path."
Matthew made a good physical recovery and was discharged from hospital weighing 55kg.
The couple spun a web of lies when quizzed by police and claimed there had been locks on the internal doors because their home used to be a student accommodation.
Craig Hewitt said his stepson was only locked in at night to stop him going downstairs and setting off a security alarm.
His wife gave no comment answers to officers but told jurors she had cancelled respite care stays for her son because they made him "fed up".
But jurors saw through their lies and they were convicted of causing or allowing a vulnerable adult to suffer serious physical harm.
Sentencing, Judge Michael Slater described Lorna Hewitt's actions as "a grave abuse of trust from a mother to her son".
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