A man has wailed and groaned after he was jailed in Melbourne for the extreme neglect of his elderly mother who died in squalid conditions.

The 52-year-old man and his 46-year-old de facto wife, who cannot be named for legal reasons, failed to properly care for his 83-year-old mother, who died in October 2013 on a rotten mattress with bronchopneumonia.

The epileptic woman, who also cannot be named, had suffered a stroke, countless seizures, and was wearing a soiled nappy that hadn't been changed in a week and was covered in scabs.

A court hearing last year was told the man had bought a pair of earplugs from Bunnings to block out the sound of his mother screaming at night.

On Friday, County Court Judge John Carmody jailed the man for 18 months despite the prosecution and defence teams previously asking for a non-custodial community corrections order.