Mother gets 200 hours for neglecting kids

A mother who left her two- and four-year-old children to wander the streets unsupervised and hungry has been sentenced to community work.

Angela Hamilton, 30, now living in Wanganui, had pleaded guilty to two charges of wilful neglect of her daughter and son.

Her neighbours in the Wellington suburb of Wilton told of the children coming to their homes asking for food, of finding Hamilton drunk and food burning, of her going out and leaving the children, and of her having parties that lasted days during which guests passed out drunk.

They also reported the children wandering outside, unsupervised and hungry, and not being able to find anything in the house but beer.

Sometimes the children had injuries, including a burn to the cheek and black eyes.

Wellington District Court Judge Tom Broadmore sentenced Hamilton on Friday to 200 hours' community work and a year's supervision. He ordered her to do parenting courses and alcohol counselling.

The children were taken from Hamilton but she is able to visit them.

Judge Broadmore said Hamilton had owned up and began to do what she could to put things right. He said her partner was a gang member and she was not always given a choice about her lifestyle.

Her lawyer, Jonathon Miller, said she had turned to alcohol while in a violent relationship.