A Hamilton mother of three who breastfed her six-month-old baby while smoking methamphetamine has been jailed for two years and three months.
Danelle June Ruth Penehio, 24, who earlier this year pleaded guilty to mistreating her child, possession, supply and receiving methamphetamine (known as P), was sentenced yesterday in Hamilton District Court, Fairfax reported.
Penehio was arrested at her Hamilton East home with 1.45 grams of the drug, with a street value of $1,500, as part of a month-long investigation dubbed Operation Share.
It was estimated that she sold 40g of P, worth more than $40,000, over 10 weeks.
Tests found traces of the drug on strands of her child's hair.
Penehio has two other children, aged five and seven, and her father has had to quit his job to look after them while she serves her sentence.
Police found children in a fifth of homes they searched as apart of Operation Share.
Leading researcher and developmental psychologist Trecia Wouldes told Fairfax mothers were advised not to breastfeed for 48 hours if they had smoked P because studies had found the drug in more concentrated doses in the breastmilk than in the woman's blood.
NZN