A FOUR-year-old boy weighing just 8.3kg was kept in his squalid bedroom for 12 days while the father shoved food under the door once a day, a court has heard.

The man, 27, today admitted endangering the boy’s life while the boy’s mother, 23, has denied charges of criminal neglect and endangering life. She will face court later.

Police officers arrested the pair after they were called to a house at Gilles Plains, in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, last October following a complaint of domestic violence.

They found the malnourished four-year-old boy among filthy conditions later described by SA Police Commissioner Gary Burns as a “very disturbing and distressing scene”.

Soiled nappies could be seen piling up in a bedroom, while dozens of energy drink cans and vodka bottles were strewn about. A pervasive stench officers described as “overpowering and putrid” could be smelled from the front yard.

In his witness statement, Sergeant Daniel Guzej described the boy as “unable to stand”.

“He appeared to struggle to speak and shook as he did,” Sgt Guzej said.

“His skin tone was blue and almost translucent ... he was completely naked.

“He appeared to have no muscle tone with every main bone and smaller bones in his body clearly defined and sagging skin all over.”

Sgt Guzej said the child was “crying out in pain” as another officer lay him on the ground to put a nappy on him and “his pelvic bones rubbed against the floor”.

During his police interview, the father said he did not believe he had been negligent because he had been feeding the child by “shoving food under the door”.

In the interview the father said the boy had been in his bedroom for 12 days.

“Nothing bad, it’s not like we’re tryin’ ... not negligent parents or anything,” he said.

“Um, the time just flies past that fast ... it’s hard to explain.”

The man said “bickies”, Vaalia sachets and long-life custard had been passed under the door to the child.

In response to a police officer’s question whether the child had been naughty and was being punished, the man said no.

“No, no, no, it’s just our stupid parenting,” he said.

The police officer then asked how often the boy was being fed.

“Oh, easy once a night man, we fed him a good f--ken’ six f--ken’ serves underneath that door once a f--ken’ day man,” he said.

“He would’ve got an equivalent to what he would have gotten fed if he was out, if that makes sense.”

The father said knew a child should ideally get three serves of vegetables or fruit and meat, bread, iron and fibre.

“It’s a combination of lack a motivation, a lack of people kickin’ us up the arse, y’know, ‘go on, f--ken’ do it’, y’know? A lack of support,” he said.

“Um, there’s, there’s probably a few different reasons, unfortunately I can’t put a concrete reason on it.”

The man said he knew that leaving his son in the room could have caused malnutrition and psychological damage.

“Unfortunately I’m smart enough to know the damage is done, just didn’t mean I was able to f--ken’ do anything to fix it when it was happening,” he said.

The man described himself as dependent on cannabis, which he said he had been smoking since he was 10 years old.

“I smoke from the moment I wake up, from the moment I go to sleep, I cone before I lay down, I’ll have a cone as soon as I sit up.”

When asked about the mess inside the house, the man said he and his partner had “missed the odd rubbish days”.

“Basically we’ve just fallen behind at rubbish, and then like each day seems to pass really quickly, and that’s not like, coz we’re really high or anything, it’s because like, we’ve constantly been by ourselves for the last seven years,” he said.

“(Despite) what it looks like as shitty parents, we do actually love our kid.”

Court documents reveal that when the boy was first admitted to hospital in October last year, he weighed just 8.3kg.

The man has been remanded in custody for sentencing.

At the time of his arrest, Mr Burns said police “unfortunately come across far too many of those scenes”.

“Even if you only see one every six months, the issue with police is that they are going to be involved in situations that general members of the public will never see,” he said.

Neighbours were equally appalled, saying they were disturbed by the allegations against the young couple.

One neighbour said the family had moved into the house in early 2013 and described the young boy as a “cute blondie”.

“They were like hermits in the house (and) you weren’t welcome to go inside,’’ she said.

“My heart goes out to the little boy … I hadn’t seen him in four months.’’

“I just feel sad that I lived next door and had no idea ... everyone is asking one question: where was the Housing Trust?”

The boy was taken into the care of Families SA

Asked about the involvement of government agencies after the pair’s arrest, Department of Education and Child Development chief executive Tony Harrison said Families SA had received some complaints in March 2012 that the house was ­untidy but a subsequent inspection by Housing SA officers found nothing to cause alarm.

Premier Jay Weatherill described the allegations as “an offence against nature”.

“I think ... it’s very sad ... and it’s really now a matter for the courts,” he said.

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