The tragic life of an 11-year-old autistic boy has been laid bare years after he was found dead in a garden shed in his backyard.
James Marsh died of hypothermia after he was doused with water and locked in a cold shed overnight in September 2011.
His stepfather Martin Marsh, 50, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years behind bars, while his mother Sarah was acquitted.
The young boy, who had moved to the New South Wales Central West region with his parents and two siblings in 2010, had been diagnosed with autism and attention deficit disorder at the age of three, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Photos of the scene show the squalid shed where James Marsh spent his final hours in September 2011

The boy’s parents had dealt with his autism and behavioural problems by keeping him restrained to a chair

This is the backyard of the family’s cottage and the garden shed where James died of hypothermia
Sarah and Martin Marsh (whose names have been changed to comply with court orders) had moved to a small cottage in the country town after meeting on a dating website and marrying in 2009.
Although the parents had initially received professional support services for James’s disability, they later decided to take matters into their own hands.
Martin withdrew the boy from his school claiming he wasn’t being cared for properly, and they decided to homeschool James instead.
But even at home, they struggled to deal with his behavioural problems – including fingernail-biting and jumping off furniture – and began to keep him restrained in fear he would ‘hurt himself.’
Their solution involved strapping James onto a toilet chair in the laundry for 12 hours a night, sometimes with a bag over his head – which Martin claimed was a tactic to help James to go to sleep.
At one point, he even used white PVC pipes on James’s arms to restrain him after Googling how to use a straitjacket.
When questioned by police, Martin explained: ‘I thought it was a good idea because ….he can’t hurt himself, he can’t do anything stupid.’
In the lead up to the boy’s cruel death, witnesses had noticed red flags indicating child abuse.
A real estate agent who visited the home just one month before his death found James locked in a ‘filthy’ room with faeces and urine on the floor.

Despite the troubling observations, Family and Community Services never received any reports of a child at risk, according to True Crime Australia

Martin had used ratchet straps to keep James bound to a chair
A tradesman said he once saw him being kept in what his family referred to as his ‘happy place’ – a roped off section of their backyard.
There were also times when Martin would refer to his stepson as ‘the idiot.’
Despite the troubling observations, Family and Community Services never received any reports of a child at risk, according to True Crime Australia.
On September 30, 2011 – the day James died – Martin became so angry at him for defecating in the house that he even rubbed the boy’s face in it.
Around 10pm that night, he strapped James to a chair in the garden shed and placed packing tape over his chest and head.
Inside the filthy shed was a heater that remained unplugged even though temperatures had dipped to 5C that night.
When James tried to get up, Martin forced him to stay in the chair and threatened to ‘wet him.’

Martin Marsh was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter
Martin returned inside his home to sleep but awoke at 2am after hearing James making noises in the shed.
He took him inside where he made James shower with cold water before putting him back in the shed for the rest of the night.
About 40 minutes later, his mum Sarah called the police after finding her son suffering from hypothermia.
Paramedic Craig Parsons, who responded to the call, described the harrowing scene saying: ‘I went into the bathroom and the little fella was on the ground in the bathroom.’ He said James had been ‘cold as ice’ to the touch.
James was declared dead at the hospital.
During police interviews, Martin claimed James ‘had a fit’ before falling to the ground and stopped breathing.
He also alleged he had resorted to the extreme practices of strapping James to a chair for the boy’s own ‘sake’ so he could get some rest.
Sarah and Martin claimed they had asked for help in caring for their child, but police later found they were well-aware of their resources and didn’t use them.
The two were charged with James’s murder in May 2012, but the charges were later downgraded to manslaughter.
Sarah was found not guilty claiming she wasn’t aware of the boy’s condition the night that he died.
A police investigation found someone had searched how to treat hypothermia on a computer, but they could never prove who it was.
Martin Marsh could apply for parole in 2021.