A mother has been found guilty of cruelty against her son who was locked into a wooden "cage-like box" at their home in Co. Waterford.

On Friday, the boy’s father was convicted of nine counts of raping him between 2009 and 2011.

The jurors heard harrowing evidence during this seven-week trial – the most distressing of which came from the testimony of the boy himself.

He’s now 12 and living in specialised care in the UK.

He gave his evidence through a live video link in the presence of an intermediary.

His allegations were the prosecution’s main evidence against his parents.

The trial heard he was raped by his father from the age of six.

On Friday, he was found guilty of nine counts of rape and one count of child cruelty.

The court heard he pushed his son into a wooden cage-like box, locked it and left him there for up to six hours.

His mother, who’s 38, was cleared of two counts of sexual assault on Friday but found guilty of cruelty this afternoon after just under eight and a half hours of jury deliberations.

Both have now been remanded in custody ahead of their sentence hearings, which are due to take place on separate dates in July.