Jail threat to truants' parents

Patricia Amos was sent to jail after her children played truant

An education authority which prosecuted a mother for her children's truancy is to continue its "hard line" approach as the new school term begins.

Schools bosses at Oxfordshire County Council have vowed to continue taking parents to court if their children are allowed to miss classes.

In May 2002, the authority prosecuted Patricia Amos who was subsequently jailed for allowing her daughters, Emma and Jacqui, to play truant.

Tony Crabbe, the council's education chief, said along with the police it would be taking "a hard line approach to truancy".

Last resort

Mr Crabbe said: "Prosecution will always be the last resort but parents who keep their children from school without good reason must be aware that they may end up in court.

"Oxfordshire does not have a particular problem with school absence in comparison with other areas of the country.

"However that doesn't make us complacent and we must continue to drive down truancy figures."

Mrs Amos later said the prison sentence had helped turn around the family's attitude to school life.

On her release from prison, Mrs Amos vowed to make her daughters attend school.

Sixteen-year-old Emma later went on to win a Key Stage Four award for English at the 1,750-strong Banbury School and achieved a 100% attendance record.