A mother has been jailed for beating and neglecting her children.

The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to cruelty to two children at Exeter Crown Court.

This week she was jailed for three months.

Her husband, who also pleaded guilty to cruelty to two children, was put on a community rehabilitation order for two years after serving the equivalent of a 10-month jail sentence on remand.

Prosecutor Adam Vaitilingam told the court that only one of the woman's children was the child of her co-defendant.

One of her sons recalled an incident when his stepfather laced a bar of chocolate with prescription drug temazepam to see which child had been stealing his chocolate from the fridge. When the son remonstrated with his step-father to protect his siblings, he was attacked and ran out of the house.

His mother dragged him back into the house, kicking and slapping him. Although the police were called, he was too frightened to make a complaint, but he was taken into the care of Social Services as a result.

"They were hungry children who sometimes were given just water," said Mr Vaitilingam.

"Whenever he (the husband) was angry, which was often, he would deal out physical abuse. All of them were attacked, punched, slapped and kicked. One of the girls remembers being kicked hard in the stomach. They remember being grabbed by the head and having their heads banged against walls."

One of the children had made sexual allegations against her step-father which were denied by him and dropped by the prosecution, the court heard.

Stephen Mooney, representing the male defendant, said the girl had made similar allegations about foster carers in order to get her own way.

David Sapiecha, for the mother, said: "She still sees her children, but she understands she will never have them back in her care again.

Judge Graham Cottle told the woman: "You have virtually no awareness at all of the way in which you behaved towards these children, and have sought to minimise the effect of your behaviour on them.

"It would be quite impossible to impose a community sentence in this case that would have any relevance. This case unquestionably exceeds the custody threshold."

He told the man: "Your chastisement of those children was grossly excessive."