Cardiff mum sentenced over children’s school absence

A Cardiff mother has been sentenced after her children missed hundreds of school sessions, with magistrates hearing that her son was gaming through the night and refusing to attend classes.

Karen Jones, 32, from Willows Avenue, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court this week where she pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to send her son and daughter to school. The court heard that between September 2022 and October 2022, her daughter—who was of legal school age at the time—attended just four times. Her son’s attendance was even worse: between April 17, 2023, and July 10, 2023, he attended only 10 out of 108 possible school sessions.

Sarah Cole, prosecuting, said the absences caused “significant education loss for both pupils”. Education officers and the school had worked with the family, but Jones did not reply to phone calls or provide reasons for the non-attendance.

The court heard on Tuesday, January 6, that Jones’s son was gaming through the night and then struggled to get up in the morning. He refused to go to school, and his mother could not manage him. When an education officer visited the house, the boy said he didn’t go to school because “I don’t want to”.

Ellis Worsley, defending Jones, told the hearing that at a school meeting she had expressed regret. The single mother had not received help from her son’s father in getting him to school and was also struggling with alcohol problems and coping generally, the court was told.

Jones said her son was now attending school and that he was aware his failure to attend was the reason she was in court. He hoped to go to college and complete a bricklaying course, magistrates heard. Her daughter is now past legal school age.

Magistrates made Jones subject to a 12-month community order, fined her £120, and required her to undertake a nine-month alcohol treatment programme and a 15-day rehabilitation activity. She must also pay a £114 government surcharge and £150 council fine, totalling £384.

Chair of the bench Nigel Buckland urged Jones to take all the available help offered and warned her that she could be jailed for failing to send a child to school. He added that if she failed to comply with the community order, she would be brought back to court and could also face imprisonment.