Mother jailed over truant daughter

A mother is in jail today for failing to stop her children playing truant.

Patricia Amos, 43, was sentenced to 60 days' imprisonment by magistrates at Banbury, Oxfordshire, last week for not ensuring that her two daughters regularly attended school.

It is believed to be the first time that the courts have jailed a parent under powers they gained in November 2000, when the maximum penalty for allowing a child to truant was raised from £1,000 to £2,500 and/or three months in prison.

The Government has recently made tackling truancy a high priority.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has suggested that the parents of children who repeatedly miss school could lose Child Benefit.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Estelle Morris has called for police to be stationed in comprehensive schools in a bid to improve attendance and behaviour in England's worst street crime/truancy "hot spots".

Ministers have also urged local education authorities to make more use of their legal powers to cut truancy and indiscipline.