Two teachers who did not trust a Birmingham hospital 'did nothing' as their 12-year-son lay dying at home from undiagnosed diabetes, a court heard.
Damion Thomas, 48, and Tamara Thomas, 45, are on trial accused of child cruelty and gross negligence manslaughter over the death of their homeschooled son Joshua.
Jurors heard the boy collapsed in the early hours of the morning when he was too weak to get to the downstairs toilet and wet himself.
Prosecutor Miranda Moore KC said the defendants should have called for medical assistance following the 4am collapse.
But jurors were told Mr Thomas went off to work later that morning and his wife only summoned help at 12.43pm after Joshua deteriorated and she noticed his lips had turned white, foam was coming from his mouth and his breathing had become faint.
Joshua died in the early hours of the following day at Birmingham Children's Hospital.
Ms Moore said both parents should have spotted the warning signs because diabetes was 'in the family' and Damion Thomas had Type 1 diabetes himself.
A jury at Birmingham Crown Court was told he suffered from untreated and undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes which led to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a life-threatening condition which requires urgent treatment.
Damion and Tamara Thomas should have spotted the warning signs because diabetes was 'in the family' and Damion Thomas had Type 1 diabetes himself, the court heard
The defendants, who have seven children in total, were both certified teachers but neither were 'fully employed' at the time of the death of Joshua, who was homeschooled.
Damion Thomas had taught at Solihull Academy and held a safeguarding role but was on a pathway to returning to work at the time of Joshua's death in December 2022, the jury was told.
He had gone to a campus at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, to attend a meeting at 2pm on the day Joshua collapsed at home in the city's Kings Heath suburb.
Ms Moore said the defendants did not trust Birmingham Children's Hospital and their attitude was to 'avoid medical intervention for their family'.
She told jurors: 'The evidence shows he should have seen a doctor before his eventual collapse on December 9.
'He was asking for sweet drinks, he wasn't himself, he was lethargic, he had lost weight.
'Both parents realised that at 4am when he wet himself on the landing. He had to be changed, put back to bed and couldn't even walk downstairs.
'He couldn't walk downstairs at 9am, when quite frankly he appears he was asleep or, as I say, in a coma on the sofa until cardiac arrest.
Damion and Tamara Thomas both deny offences of child cruelty and gross negligence manslaughter
'Both parents knew the symptoms of diabetes. Mr Thomas lived through it. Mrs Thomas had seen her husband with it.
'At 4am they would have both recognised what he was exhibiting.'
Ms Moore said both defendants would have also understood the 'dangers of untreated diabetes'. She continued: 'What did they do? In short, nothing.
'Damion goes off to work, makes no checks on his son. Despite the number of times Tamara rang him, he didn't answer the phone.'
Ms Moore told the court Mrs Thomas spoke on the phone with her husband and told him Joshua was unresponsive moments before she called for an ambulance.
But Mr Thomas later told police he was unaware of what was happening until he came home and saw paramedics, the prosecutor added.
She said: 'What parent doesn't check on their sick child? What parent doesn't come home when their sick child is unresponsive? 'What parent does something else instead of coming home knowing his wife is about to call 999 for an ambulance?'
Ms Moore told the court Joshua may well have slipped into a coma as he lay on the sofa that morning when his mother thought he was asleep.
The jury was told doctors at the children's hospital concluded death was 'inevitable' for Joshua due to damage to his brain caused by cardiac arrest.
Miranda Moore KC, prosecuting, said: 'Tamara Thomas was distressed. She expressed regret she didn't take him to the hospital that morning instead of waiting for her husband to get home.
'She repeated he (Joshua) didn't talk to or respond to anyone that morning. She thought he was asleep. In all probability he was in a coma.'
The couple were arrested around a month after Joshua's death.
In her interview Mrs Thomas told police Joshua had been unwell for around a fortnight. She said he awoke at 4am on December 9 and 'didn't look right' and 'wasn't himself'.
Ms Moore, summarising the interview, said: 'Joshua looked as though he had normal fatigue at 10pm the previous night.
'At 4am she agreed there had been a change. She was awoken by Joshua and his dad. Joshua tried to go downstairs but Damion said he was too weak and wet himself.
'She wasn't so worried about phoning an ambulance there and then...she didn't recognise what was wrong with him.'
The court heard Joshua refused water the next morning, and had been lying on the sofa from 9am.
Mrs Thomas told police that in the early afternoon she became concerned he was not breathing and called her husband, saying he needed to come home and take their son to the hospital.
Mrs Thomas said she called 999 when Joshua's lips 'turned white'.
The prosecutor told the court Mr Thomas was 'obstructive' in his interview and gave 'blunt and quite bullish' answers.
Asked if he felt Joshua needed medical assistance at 4am he replied: 'I'm not a doctor.'
The court heard 'lively and energetic' Joshua had joined Sparkhill Harriers running club in early 2022, where he was described as 'articulate, bright and fairly competitive'.
His parents had claimed he had been ill with cold-like symptoms for around two weeks prior to his collapse.
The couple both deny offences of child cruelty and gross negligence manslaughter.
The trial continues.
