An elderly disabled man was found “close to death” after being held by his mother in an attic bed that was littered with vomit and faeces.
Lorna, 43-year-old Lorna and Craig, 42, kept Matthew Langley (22 year old autistic) in Sheffield for seven month.
Matthew was found by paramedics seriously underweight at just six stone, dehydrated and ‘with his life hanging in the balance’, Sheffield Crown Court heard.
Police found faeces and vomit all over the floor and bedding in Matthew’s attic bedroom, along with buzzing flies, a bad smell and a key on the outside of the door, the court was told.
Lorna Hewitt (pictured), 43, and her husband Craig, 42, allegedly kept her autistic son Matthew Langley, 22, locked in the attic of their home in Sheffield for seven months
The ambulance service was called to the family home in the early hours of June 2, 2020, according to Nicholas Campbell QC, prosecuting.
Matthew was rushed to a hospital intensive care unit in a ‘pitiable state’ with abrasions indicating he had been moving around on all fours, the prosecutor said.
The court heard that Matthew, who has irritable bowel syndrome, incontinence, arthritis and learning difficulties, had suffered damage to a kidney with high sodium levels relating to severe dehydration.
Mr Campbell added: ‘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 weighed just six stone when he was found, despite having weighed eight-and-a-half stone just seven months earlier in November 2019, the court heard.
Sheffield Crown Court was told Matthew had been severely dehydrated by paramedics and that he was only six stone overweight. Craig Hewitt
Craig Hewitt (left), and Lorna Hewitt, (right), pleaded guilty to false imprisonment between November 2019 and June 2, 2020
Matthew Campbell stated that Matthew experienced a positive physical recovery, and he had lost 55kg by the time he was released from the hospital.
Craig Hewitt said that Lorna, his wife, had discovered Matthew on the floor upstairs. Matthew claimed he had been fed, and that he ate inside his bedroom.
After police found a key on the outside of Matthew’s bedroom door, Craig claimed there were locks on the internal doors because their home used to be a student accommodation.
He also told police that his stepson Matthew had only been locked in at night because he would go downstairs and set off security alarms.
The court heard Lorna Hewitt refused to comment on any questions being asked her by police officers.
The jury heard Mr Campbell tell them: ‘It’s a matter that you should decide. You may believe that, as their pressures grew, they were willing to risk his health in the hope that he would be relieved of all responsibility and cared for by others.
Craig Hewitt, Lorna Hewitt, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment between November 2019 and June 2, 2020.
They also plead not guilty for causing serious injury to an adult who is vulnerable between those dates.
Continue the trial.