Police are acknowledging the sentencing of the pair responsible for murdering Christchurch mother, Angela Blackmoore -- saying it's a long and painful 28 years for her family

David Hawken and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum have both received life-imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.

They plotted and planned the 21-year-old's killing -- in which she was stabbed at her Wainoni home in 1995 while her two-year-old son slept nearby.

Detective Sergeant, Todd Hamilton says since Blackmoore's murder, their focus has always been on getting justice for her.

He's hopeful the sentencing will help her family move forward.