An alcoholic mother of eight, who starved her four-year-old son to death and left his mummified body in a cot for two years, has been jailed for fifteen years.

Amanda Hutton, 43, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Hamzah Khan at Bradford Crown Court yesterday. She was sentenced today for manslaughter, child neglect and preventing the burial of her dead son's body.

The judge said Hutton posed a "real danger" to children, adding that she had shown a "terrible failure to fulfil the most basic responsibility; in short you starved Hamzah to death".

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The judge also addressed how Hutton had kept the death of her son secret saying: "Your deviousness was to keep various agencies away from you and your children.

"Your wicked conduct has been displayed in such awful detail."

Hamzah's body was found in a cot in Hutton's Bradford bedroom in September 2011, amid scenes of utter squalor. Five other school-age children were found amid the debris.

The court heard that the four-year-old died in December 2009 due to malnutrition as a result of his mother's alcoholism and neglect.

During the trial the court heard that Hamzah Khan had a "grossly inadequate" diet and was so small he fitted in a baby grow for a six-month-old infant when he died.

The jury returned their verdicts yesterday after five hours of deliberations, the foreman making clear that they had convicted Hutton on the basis that she was grossly negligent by not providing the four-year-old with adequate nourishment for her son.

Earlier today it emerged that Hamzah's older brother, who has admitted failing to bury the body of his brother, told police during interviews that Hutton told him not to tell anyone what had happened or she would kill her other children.

Judge Roger Thomas QC was also told that one of Hutton's neighbours alerted social services to her concerns about the family six months before Hamzah's body was found.

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Mr Greaney said the neighbour contacted social services in March 2011 as she was concerned about things she had observed.

The woman, who cannot be named, said she did this because of children crying and not being comforted, threatening voices towards the youngsters, blinds never being open and children not playing outside.

In a text message the woman wrote about her anonymous call to social service, she wrote: "Better to be safe than sorry."

Mr Greaney said the history of what happened after this was "complex" but social services, education services and the police "were all involved to a greater or lesser extent".

But, the prosecutor said, these activities did not result in Hamzah's body being discovered and the other children being rescued.

The jury returned their verdicts yesterday after five hours of deliberations, the foreman making clear that they had convicted Hutton on the basis that she was grossly negligent by not providing the four-year-old with adequate nourishment for her son.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.