A shocking video showing prescription tranquillisers carelessly left laying around for a young child to easily access within a filthy Illawarra home has been played in court.
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A couple, who can not be named for legal reason, have each pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to provide for a child causing danger of serious injury.
They confessed to seriously endangering the life of their four-year-old child after multiple visits to the hospital showed he had a cocktail of sedative drugs in his system.
The video, captured by detectives during a search warrant of the home, was played in Wollongong Local Court on Friday during a sentencing hearing for one of the mothers.
It showed bags and rubbish piled high, dozens of cans of soft drink left on the kitchen bench top, clothes strewn across a bed and food scraps on the bedhead.
Most alarmingly, detectives uncovered packets and empty sheets of prescription pills, medication for an animal, Temazepam and paracetamol on the floor, in a box and beside drawer.
A lighter was found close to the child's port-a-cot in the couple's bedroom as well as a power tool, nails, razors and potato chip packets full of cigarette butts.
One detective remarked, it "smells bad in here".
The 30-year-old woman, who is not the child's biological mother, shook her head and was brought to tears seeing the footage of her house, which her defence lawyer, Scott Fraser labelled an "absolutely putrid state".
"She is in absolute disgust at having allowed herself to get into that position," he said.
In arguing to keep his client out of jail, Mr Fraser pointed to the woman's poor mental health at time of the incident.
He asked the court to consider the woman had been diagnosed, at a young age, with bipolar, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression stemming from childhood trauma.
"She wasn't medicated at the time of the offence," Mr Fraser said. "Perhaps that provides some explanation why the house was in that state."
He said the woman had since taken steps to improve her mental health.
Mr Fraser said his client realised she would not likely have contact with the child again and had taken "full responsibility" for her role in endangering the young boy.
"[The woman] acknowledges the great danger she placed the child in and is truly remorseful and contrite," he said.
In documents tendered to court, medical records revealed the mums had taken the boy to their GP 35 times in 12 months and made a further 31 hospital visits.
During those visits, the boy was found to be lethargic and had reduced levels of consciousness. Doctors initially suspected he was suffering from inflammation on the brain but were unable to make a formal diagnosis. On each occasion he was discharged after his condition improved.
Both the boy's mothers denied he had access to any medications in the house beyond simple painkillers.
Family and Community Services removed the child from the women's care and he remained in hospital for three days and returned to normal functioning.
A toxicology report revealed the boy had a cocktail of drugs in his system at the time including Temazepam, Oxazepam, Nortriptyline, Amitriptyline and Lignocaine.
Magistrate Roger Clisdell adjourned the case to consider his sentencing. Both women will return to court on December 13.
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