SHEFFIELD COUPLE CONVICTED FOR LOCKING SON IN ATTIC AND NEGLECTING HIM
Shock and disbelief have rippled through Sheffield after residents learned a couple was convicted of severe cruelty and neglect towards their 23-year-old autistic son.Lorna Hewitt, 43, and her husband Craig Hewitt, 42—who was her husband's stepfather—were found guilty of locking their son in an attic bedroom for months.
The young man was so malnourished that his bones were visible beneath his skin.
Sheffield Crown Court heard that the attic floor was scattered with rubbish and human feces, with no access to proper washing facilities or a toilet.
Medical experts testified that the boy was fed only a few hundred calories daily over several months and was near death when he was admitted to hospital.
The couple is scheduled for sentencing next month after their convictions for false imprisonment and neglect.
One resident, Chrissie Petfield, aged 33, who has lived nearby for four years, described the case as horrifying, saying, “It is just a horrific story and certainly not something that you expect to find going on in your street.” She expressed amazement that no one had known about it for so long.
Another local person voiced strong condemnation, saying, “It is completely disgusting what they have done.
They need burning and should rot in hell,” emphasizing how unacceptable it was to treat another human in such a manner, especially given his existing health issues.
A neighbor who recently moved in said they had only interacted with the couple once, about bin collection.
An older man from the neighborhood admitted he was struggling to absorb what had happened and hoped for a long sentence when the court sentenced them.
Despite Craig Hewitt’s participation in Neighbourhood Watch activities, the community knew little about the couple, with one person describing them as 'Mr and Mrs Invisible.' The police investigation was triggered by a call to Yorkshire Ambulance Service at 1:55 am on June 2, 2021, reporting a collapse.
Officers discovered the victim inside a locked attic room, accessible only from outside, where he was found in a terrible state: he was six feet tall but weighed only six stone, covered in bruises and abrasions.
His nails and toenails were dangerously long, causing him pain, and his hair was neglected, with teeth stained orange by plaque.
He was so ill upon arrival at hospital that he was placed in intensive care immediately.
Safeguarding measures were enforced, and he has now made a complete recovery.
