A mother neglected her five children so badly that they did not know how to use a toilet or wash themselves when they were taken into foster care, a Dublin court has heard.



The children were so badly mistreated that one of them consumed food excessively until he vomited when he was taken into care, reports the Irish Independent.



Health Service Executive (HSE) officials noted that although the mother was dressed in warm clothes with a Playboy bunny cap, her two young daughters were dressed in shorts and ankle socks, while the teeth of her eldest son, were rotten as he stolen bags of sugar to eat as he was starving.



When taken into care the eldest son, then aged 10, wore trousers halfway up his leg. The young boy had no socks or underwear and had holes in his shoes.



All five children had not been washed and the foster parents later reported that their hair was “a different color blond” after she washed it.



When the eldest son was placed in care he had to live in an isolated unit for four years because it was advised he was unsuitable to co-habit with other children or a family. He is currently living in a special care unit outside of Ireland.



His victim impact report, which was read in court by a guardian stated: “"I am the worst child in the world."



It added he had a "a desperate desire to make friends" but was constantly bullied as he still soils himself.



All the foster parents stated the children would urinate and defecate in inappropriate places.



On Monday the children’s 34-year-old mother appeared at Dublin Criminal Court were she pleaded guilty to ten counts of child neglect between May 2005 and September 2007.



The accused 44-year-old husband has already been convicted of child neglect, sexual abuse and the rape of a young girl by the Central Criminal court. He was also convicted of the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl in the UK.



His rap sheet included the abduction of the defendant in England when she was only 14. Years later the couple married days after she turned 18.



Judge Martin Nolan said the child neglect was so bad he could not imagine a worse situation.



"It was a simple case of huge neglect," the judge told the court.



He remanded the mother on continuing bail until sentencing on Thursday.



Defending the accused, Aileen Donnelly said she had been under the influence of her husband.



"Her relationship with him diminished her ability to act independently but she has since turned her life around," Donnelly said.



"She was a victim and a victim who did not learn herself. Her head was turned by him and she never righted it herself."



She added her client had expressed “the utmost remorse” and is now in contact with her two eldest children.