A WOMAN whose son attended school for only one in every three school days has been ordered to undertake unpaid work.

Swindon magistrates heard that the 45-year-old mum-of-two, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suggested that her son did not need to attend school because of his traveller heritage.

Rosie Heath, solicitor for Swindon Borough Council, which brought the case, said that the boy had missed 120 days of school out of a possible 186 between October 2016 and March this year.

The secondary school had raised regular concerns about the boy’s truancy, Ms Heath said.

At one formal discussion of the case at the end of the year, the prosecutor said that the woman believed “as a traveller child he could leave school at the age of 12”.

The woman, who does not live near the school, was said to have “insisted her son attend school by taxi, but she’s not able to afford this all the time”.

She was also said to have informed the school that her son was ill.

However, no medical notes were produced to prove the fact, prosecutor, Ms Heath said.

The woman pleaded guilty to allowing her child to fail to regularly attend school – an offence under the Education Act.

Defending, Richard Griffiths spoke of the “difficulty” his client was having with a “young man who is taller than her, much stronger than her and [she is] repeatedly told she can’t give him correction if he gives her lip.”

The boy’s younger brother was excelling at school, the court heard.

The mother had made every effort to give the children a good start to the day: “She gets the boys up for six o’clock, she gets their clothes ready and she gets the breakfast.”

However, Mr Griffiths, said: “When he [the truant] leaves the premises he does what he wants.”

He added of the boy: “He unfortunately mixes with other traveller community young men who are of the same age and do not go to school.”

Mr Griffiths said his client was “at a loss” to know what to do with the boy.

“All she can do is wait for this young boy to reach 16 and leave school,” he said.

Mr Gane, chairman of the bench at Swindon Magistrates Court, told the woman: “This is a serious matter.

“We think it is serious enough for a community order.”

Magistrates made a 12-month community order, requiring the woman to complete 50 hours of unpaid work. She was also ordered to pay £200 in costs and a victim surcharge of £85.