THE deadbeat mother of a little boy who died while trapped in horrific squalor has been taken to hospital after collapsing in court as details of the sickening case were revealed in full for the first time.

The woman’s tiny five-year-old could barely communicate and lived surrounded by rodents, debris and rubbish when he died in 2008.

He died three days after cutting his foot on a tin can littered in the home.

The boy’s brother said that the night before the boy died he had been asking for help and he “kept falling over like a zombie”.

He described his brother as “very, very, very sick” and that he “sounded like he was gonna die”.

He was rushed to an ambulance branch by his mother, but couldn’t be saved.

His parents, who cannot be named, have both pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct endangering serious injury.

Giving her details to the court, the boy’s mum described her occupation as “deadbeat”.

She was inconsolable as she sat in the dock of the County Court for a pre-sentence hearing before she collapsed and appeared to stop breathing.

The sudden collapse sparked a medical emergency and forced the court to be adjourned so the woman could be taken to hospital.

Chief Judge Michael Rozenes adjourned the matter until October 22.

Images of the couple’s putrid home shocked left authorities shocked.

Rotten food, mould, faeces, broken furniture and household items littered every room of the house.

Neighbours allegedly had reported the family to authorities and regularly saw the boy and his brother locked outside.

They allegedly had urged police to intervene after they heard the boy’s mother threaten to break his arms and legs and run him over with a car.

In a brief of evidence prepared for the court, the mother admitted to police that her family had been living in ”sheer and utter filth”.

The boy’s father told police that after his son cut his foot, he treated him with a Band-Aid and antiseptic.

But he said the boy wasn’t taken to a doctor despite continuing to complain of being unwell.

Court documents and images released to the Herald Sun reveal the boy was not registered at birth and had not been immunised.

He had routine check-ups by maternal health nurses, but never saw a medical practitioner again.

shannon.deery@news.com.au