Daughter's truancy lands mother in jail

A mother from Wolverhampton has been jailed for failing to make sure her daughter goes to school.

Tatyana Nevidomska was handed a four-week prison sentence at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court because of her 15-year-old's consistently poor attendance at Moseley Park School.

The 36-year-old's lawyer, Mr Andrew Brocklehurst, lodged an appeal within seconds of sentencing yesterday.

Mrs Annette Harvey-Pittaway, prosecuting, told the court that between September and October, Nevidomska's daughter attended 29 of 52 sessions and was frequently hours late, despite living in Bickley Road, Bilston, less than a mile away from the school.

Magistrates deferred sentencing in November to offer Nevidomska a last chance to make sure her daughter attended but she turned up for only 42 per cent of classes.

In May, Nevidomska was fined £100 after the teenager missed 41 per cent of classes between November 2009 and January 2010.

Chairman of the bench Mrs Kathryn Yarsley told her: "This offence is so serious we have no alternative but to send you to custody. You were told in no uncertain terms in November that you could go to prison if your child didn't attend school regularly."

The court heard that Nevidomska, a Czech national, missed meetings arranged by the school to discuss her daughter's attendance and replied to only three of 37 text messages sent by the school.

Her daughter attended court in November and was warned that her mother faced serious repercussions if the problems continued. "She didn't take me seriously," Mrs Yarsley said.

Mr Brocklehurst said Nevidomska is a single parent who has been in the UK for five years and works as a clothes sorter in a factory.

"Her daughter is a mature 15-year-old, she has a 17-year-old boyfriend, all her friends are 17 or 18, and she doesn't see the point of being at school," he added. "The mother feels she no longer has control of her daughter."

Nevidomska admitted failing to ensure her child's attendance.