The mother of a 13-year-old truant may be spending her Christmas in the local prison. Christine Baker, was given an eight-week jail sentence this week by Wolverhampton magistrates court, after failing to ensure that her teenage son attended school.

The court was told that Baker’s son went to fewer than a third of his lessons in the summer term and only a quarter of classes the preceding academic year. The case was brought by Wolverhampton County Council after warning the boy’s mother in October last year that she would face jail if her son continued to miss school.

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