UK: Hungry 3-year-old kept in cell, eats own hair

London: A three-year-old boy kept in a "cell" by his parents was so hungry he ripped out and ate his own hair, the Daily Mail reported on Saturday.

Mother Lisa Brooks, 25, and stepfather Tomas Lewis, 22, were jailed on Saturday for locking their child in a tiny bare room with no lights or heating.

A court heard that the boy was "hours away from death" - suffering from starvation and dehydration when he was rescued and taken to hospital.

He was discovered just three weeks before Christmas 2010 at Trevethin, near Pontypool, South Wales, after a social worker received anonymous tip-offs.

The boy has since been adopted by a foster family and shows no signs of psychological damage.