Three found guilty in SA abuse trial

Three men have been found guilty of abusing five young siblings whose brains shrank
due to malnutrition.
The South Australian Supreme Court jury on Thursday delivered the verdicts after
more than five hours of deliberations.
The jury found each of the men guilty on two counts of aggravated acts endangering
life and three counts of acts creating risk of serious harm to the children, aged
between four and seven.
The court heard that for about four months in 2008 the children had lived in squalor
with six adults and 16 other children, many of them related to each other, in one
house.
Their plight was discovered when a five-year-old boy collapsed.
He was admitted to hospital suffering malnutrition and hypothermia, his body
temperature so low that he was almost unconscious and needing help to breathe.
His siblings were also significantly underweight, had open sores on their legs or
ulcers on the feet, were infected with scabies and had suffered from impaired
growth.
Examinations revealed that their brains had shrunk from a lack of proper nutrition.
During the three-week trial, the prosecution said the children had been forced to
stand in line, sometimes all day, with their hands on their head.
They risked being slapped and choked if they tried to get food and resorted to
hiding scraps between their toes.
Their mother has already been jailed for her part in the abuse while another woman,
who the crown said was the instigator, pleaded guilty at the start of the trial but
is yet to be sentenced.
Discharging the jury, Justice Kevin Duggan said that for various reasons some cases
were much more difficult to try than others.
"There's no doubt this has been such a case," he said.
The judge thanked the jury members for showing the "attention to duty" that they had
during the trial.
The three men and the woman yet to be sentenced are due to appear in court again
next week for the start of the sentencing process.