Mother jailed over daughter's absence

The council said it will take action if children are not sent to school

A Solihull mother has been jailed for failing to send her daughter to school.

The prosecution is the first of its kind which has resulted in a custodial sentence in Solihull.

Jane Edwards-Skett was convicted after her daughter Victoria failed to attend a single day at Archbishop Grimshaw school in the past two years.

The prosecution was brought by Solihull Metropolitan Borough.

'Extreme case'

Ms Edwards-Skett, of Kingshurst Way, Kingshurst, was originally sentenced to six weeks in jail at an earlier hearing.

However this was reduced to two weeks following an appeal at Warwick Crown Court on Friday.

Ms Edwards-Skett also had a parenting order imposed on her.

She had previously been convicted for the same offence in November 2001 and given a 12-month probation order but this was discharged in January when she failed to co-operate with the order.

Steve Martin, the council's chief education welfare officer, said: "We would much prefer to work with a family and help them improve school attendance.

"However despite having worked very hard, all our efforts were thwarted and we had no alternative but to use the court process."

He added: "We need to send the message out to parents that we will take action if they fail to send their children to school, and in most extreme cases, this can mean prosecution and even imprisonment."