AUSTRALIAN journalist Peter Gerard Lloyd, 42, was sentenced to 10 months' jail in a district court on Tuesday for three drug offences.

He was jailed eight months for possession and consumption of the drug, methamphetamine or Ice, and two months for having utensils used to consume the drug.

Lloyd, a former South Asia correspondent with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation based in New Delhi, had initially faced a charge of drug trafficking which could have sent him to jail for up to 20 years and 15 strokes of the cane but that charge was dropped early last month.

Flanked by his lawyers Mr Hamidul Haq and Mr Tan Jee Ming, Lloyd entered the courthouse on Tuesday morning accompanied by his ex-wife Ms Kirsty McIvor, who flew in from Australia recently.

The couple are said to be on good terms and have two young sons.

Pleading for leniency, Mr Haq told the court that Lloyd suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his coverage of events such as the Bali bombings, Asian tsunami and the Karachi bombings, which left him with recurring nightmares.

Mr Haq said: 'He had to fight off sleep because when he fell asleep, he had these nightmares. Consuming Ice became a self-medication for him.'

'He does not do it for recreational purposes.'

But Deputy Public Prosecutor Natalie Morris said that Lloyd was still able to tell right from wrong although he had used the drug as a 'coping mechanism'.

She added that his condition could not be used as a justification for his actions as he had gone out of his way to obtain and consume the drug.

Wearing a dark grey suit, Lloyd took copious notes of the proceedings in the dock, glancing up occasionally. He looked visibly relieved when the sentences were passed.

According to court documents, Lloyd arrived in Singapore from Indonesia on July 8 to seek treatment at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

The next day, he contacted drug supplier Mohamed Izaini Mohd Razib, whom he had met a few months earlier, to buy some methamphetamine.

The pair arranged to meet that day at Wheelock Place on Orchard Road where Lloyd paid $1,000 for some amphetamine.

Following a tip-off, Central Narcotics Bureau officers arrested Lloyd on July 16 along Upper Serangoon Road.

CNB officers later went to his hospital room, where his personal belongings were being kept, and found a packet of crystalline substance which contained 0.41g of methamphetamine, as well as the drug-laced utensils. He was also asked to provide urine samples which tested positive for the drug.

Ms McIvor, who was granted permission to speak to Lloyd after the sentencing, broke down in tears. She angrily told reporters off as she walked out of the courthouse in a huff.

Playing it cool, Lloyd packed his things into a sling bag, threw it over his shoulders and was handcuffed before being led away.