A COUPLE have admitted child cruelty to their daughter by giving her a sedative every night so they could sleep, a court heard.

The girl was routinely given Medised - a liquid medicine containing paracetamol and a mild sedative - between the ages of two and three-and-a-half, Gloucester Crown Court was told on Friday.

Medised is intended for children aged over six to relieve symptoms of colds and flu.

The girl was also sometimes given the sedative Diazepam, the court heard.

When social workers found out in 2011, the girl was put into the care of an aunt and is now doing extremely well, the court heard.

Her parents, who have both had drug problems, admitted charges of child cruelty between September 2009 and June 2011.

The mum admitted a similar charge involving Diazepam - but denied she had given it to the girl deliberately.

Jail terms were not imposed so as not to deprive the girl of weekend supervised access by the parents.

The mum recieved an 18 month jail sentence suspended for two years while the father was given a 12 month sentence suspended for the same period. Both were placed under a curfew.

Kannan Siva, prosecuting, said the parents had given the girl Medised every night so they could sleep.

Giles Nelson, defending the mother, said "I am afraid they went badly wrong as parents."

For the father, Martin Steen said: "He thought that by giving Medised he was relieving her and relieving himself. He now recognises he was wrong and is ashamed."