A MOTHER-OF-TEN has been placed on a six-month parenting order after one son repeatedly missed school.

Magistrates heard that Angela Ashley's 15-year-old son, Daniel Nelson, only turned up to 33 school sessions out of a possible 127. It meant he attended school 26 per cent of the time, when the lowest acceptable level is 85 per cent.

Hartlepool Magistrates' Court heard that Ashley told a school attendance officer on one occasion that Daniel had not turned up at school because the family had slept in.

On another day, an officer who went to the family's home found it boarded up.

Ashley, of York Road, Hartlepool, was ordered to serve a four-month curfew and pay £225 costs to the education authority.

She was also placed on a six- month parenting order and must attend a guidance programme to try to deal with problems within the home.

Paul Wilson, mitigating, said: "I think her son now appreciates the position he is putting his mother in."

Ashley was convicted in her absence on July 11 of failing to ensure regular school attendance for her son between September 27 last year and March 11 this year.

At another court hearing in July, she was warned she could face jail for a separate problem of more than £1,500 outstanding in court fines.

A spokesman for the council said: "We are committed to ensuring that no child misses out on education and work very closely with parents to promote school attendance.

"Prosecution is very much a last resort but, when all else fails, we won't hesitate to use it."