A truant daughter failed to turn up for lessons today - hours after her mum avoided a jail sentence for not sending her to school.

Gertrude Bowdidge escaped a jail sentence yesterday after being prosecuted by Essex County Council for not making her 15-year-old daughter Kate attend Rickstones School in Witham.

After the case Bowdidge spoke of her relief at being given a six-month conditional discharge by magistrates.

And she said she hoped Kate would return to school and she would continue to bribe her with pocket money to do so.

Asked whether Kate would now attend school, she replied: "Maybe she will this time because she got a bit frightened. She knows what she put me through."

But today Bowdidge said Kate stayed at home because she was afraid of being bullied at school, but may return on Monday.

Rickstones head teacher Terry Canty said: "We will continue trying to work positively with the family, but she (Kate) has to start by coming and talking to us."

Bowdidge, 51, of Hemingway Road, Witham, appeared before magistrates in Chelmsford for sentencing yesterday.

At an earlier hearing she had admitted failing to ensure Kate attended school and was warned she could face jail.

James Hutchon, prosecuting on behalf of Essex County Council, said between February 25 and July 12 this year Kate attended Rickstones School, where she is enrolled as a pupil, on only one out of a possible 168 occasions - an attendance rate of 0.59 per cent.

He added that both mother and daughter had failed to co-operate with the council's education welfare service's attempts to resolve the problem, and that since October 8, Kate had only gone to school on 15 out of a possible 79 occasions, and had been late for seven of them.

Mr Hutchon said: "Kate doesn't have much longer left at school. The time she does have left is very important."

Matthew Taylor, mitigating, said Kate's school attendance had improved to about 15-20 per cent.

He said of Bowdidge, who has spent much of the time since her last court appearance in hospital: "She has made efforts to make her daughter attend school.

"However, her daughter has had the upper hand - she is physically more able to walk away from her mother who cannot physically force her to go to school.

"Whatever your decision today is, it will not make any difference to that."

Sentencing, chairman of the bench John Hopkins said: "We don't think that custody is the appropriate way of dealing with you."

Representatives of Essex County Council's education department were in court to hear the sentence.

Afterwards Nigel Hunt, head of its planning and access services, said: "We recognise the court's decision. We will now work with the school to maintain Kate's attendance and help Ms Bowdidge.

"But clearly with a conditional discharge we would be in a position to come back to court if Kate's attendance does not improve."

Published Thursday November 7, 2002

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