Minister backs decision to jail mother of truants

A Cabinet minister has backed a magistrates' decision to jail a mother for letting her children play truant.

Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, said yesterday: "If this is an example of magistrates tackling the issue of truancy and taking it seriously then I welcome it."

In the landmark case, Patricia Amos, 43, was sentenced to 60 days' imprisonment for not ensuring that her two teenage daughters regularly attended school. It is believed to be the first time the courts have jailed a parent under powers gained in 2000.

The Government has signalled that it considers truancy a priority and Tony Blair has suggested that parents of repeat offenders could lose their child benefits.

Amos's family criticised the sentence imposed by magistrates at Banbury, Oxfordshire, where she lives. "We are all devastated over what had happened. We didn't expect anything like," said Amos's eldest daughter, Kerry Cowman.

The 25-year-old, whose mother is serving her term at Holloway prison, added: "There must be another way of teaching kids a lesson without locking their mother up. They realise they have done wrong and they are going back to school."

Amos, who has five children, admitted at a previous hearing she had failed to ensure the two daughters' attendance at school.

Roy Smith, chief education officer for Oxfordshire County Council, which brought the prosecution, said it had tried various other strategies. "Unfortunately, in this case, parental co-operation has not been forthcoming and all efforts to engage with this parent have been unsuccessful."

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, added his support to the ruling.