Starved boy was days from death: court

A starving four-year-old boy, locked in his filthy room by his parents, was only days away from death when he was found naked and crouched on the floor, a court has been told.

Police only happened to find the malnourished, dehydrated and shivering boy when his mother called police to the Adelaide home complaining she had been assaulted by the boy's father.

The 28-year-old father and the 24-year-old mother have pleaded guilty to an aggravated charge of endangering the life of their son, who weighed just 8.3kg when found by police last October.

Prosecutor Lucy Boord on Tuesday said the boy had been locked in the room for up to 12 days and described the neglect as "one of the most serious cases this court will ever see".

The mother told police she was more interested in having sex than caring for her son.

"I've messed up, I've done the wrong thing. I know I shouldn't have thought about my man before my son," she said.

"I didn't associate with my child like I should have, instead I was too busy having sex with (her partner)."

The District Court was told the parents had been on a binge of alcohol and cannabis and had fed the boy yoghurt, custard or jelly on plates they slid under the door.

Officers had to walk through garbage bags, rotting food, dirty nappies and sanitary pads to get to the boy, who was surrounded by used nappies, plastic plates and his own faecal matter.

"He (was) a whisper of a child and, on the prosecution case, only a couple of days away from certain death if the officers had not intervened," Ms Boord said.

A victim impact statement, compiled by authorities and the boy's foster parents, said he now hides food in his pockets and has had a significant number of decayed teeth removed.

He's still being toilet-trained, has limited language skills, cries and whimpers in his sleep and normal family outings are obviously new to the boy.

He cannot tolerate doors being closed and cannot control his emotions, sometimes punching himself in the head or running into walls.

The court was told that when arrested, the mother weighed 38kg and the father 39kg.

The mother's lawyer, Tim Heffernan, said no-one in the household was receiving proper care. There was no routine, no day or night, and his client - who had a terrible upbringing - was subjected to domestic violence.

Although she loved her son, "she was clearly incapable of organising her life or caring for the child".

The man's lawyer, Mark Twiggs, said his client was appalled by his actions and was extremely sorry.

Years earlier, Victorian authorities had removed another child from the father's care.

The couple will be sentenced on December 11.