Mother jailed for truant daughters

The girls' attendance dropped to two days a week

A mother-of-two has been jailed for failing to prevent her daughters from playing truant from school.

The Brighton woman was sentenced to seven days in prison and is only the second parent in the country to be jailed because her children skipped lessons.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is due for release on Christmas Eve.

Her two daughters, aged 12 and 14, have been placed in the temporary care of other family members.

"Taken seriously"

She appeared at Brighton and Hove Magistrates' Court after her daughters' school attendance slipped to just two days a week.

The woman appeared in court on Tuesday after being arrested and held in a cell overnight.

Magistrates were told the girls' best attendance had reached as high as 66 per cent while Brighton and Hove Council spent a year attempting get them back to the classroom.

A spokesman said the case proved how seriously the council treated serial truancy.

"Court action was a last resort but the mother had been totally uncooperative with the school, the police and the council," he said.

"We treat children's education very seriously and hopefully this sentence will act as a deterrent to other parents."