A Wellington mother-of-three has been sentenced today for charges relating to the supply and possession of methamphetamine.

Paula Alida Smith of Strathmore Park had previously been charged with ill-treating her young daughter by breastfeeding while using methamphetamine, also known as P, but that charge was dropped.

It would have been one of the first such prosecutions in New Zealand had the charge not been withdrawn.

Smith appeared at Wellington District Court on two charges of possession and one of supply of methamphetamine.

She appeared with her husband Jason Smith who was sentenced for one charge of supply and one of possession of methamphetamine as well as a summary charge.

The couple's two-year-old daughter waved and smiled at them from the public gallery while their sentences were handed down by Judge Peter Hobbs.

Judge Hobbs sentenced Smith to two years and five months' imprisonment while her husband was sentenced to 10 months' home detention and community work.

The Smiths, who have been married for 14 years, also have two teenage children and Judge Hobbs said the sentence would at least allow one parent to spend time with them. 

Judge Hobbs commended the couple for their openness to drug counselling and their remorse which he said he hoped was genuine.

He took this and the guilty pleas into account when sentencing the couple.

- © Fairfax NZ News