Five parents have been jailed and scores more punished by the courts in the past five years for failing to send their children to school.

Since 2003, 143 parents, grandparents or guardians in Oxfordshire have appeared before the courts for failing to regularly send their children to school.

Some 79 were handed conditional discharges, while 24 were fined, 18 given parenting orders, 11 given community punishments and six given other punishments.

The figures, released by Oxfordshire County Council under the Freedom of Information Act, also show five have been jailed.

One person was jailed for failing to regularly send their child to school in 2004/05, two in 2006/07 and two in 2007/08.

In the same period unauthorised absences fell from 1.1 per cent to 0.72 per cent.

Karen Stowe, 39, of Croft Road, Marston, pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Friday to a charge of failing to secure her child’s attendance in school.

The court heard her 14-year-old daughter only attended 63 per cent of lessons at The Cherwell School between January and March this year.

It was the second time the single mum had been in court charged with failing to get her daughter to school in the past five years.

Ms Stowe was fined £80 and ordered to pay £50 costs and a £15 victim’s surcharge.

Outside court she said: “It’s my own fault. This should be a warning to others to send their kids to school.

“This has really scared me and I’m not coming back to court again. I suffer from depression and it’s difficult to get up in the morning. But this is a reality check. “She’s been going to school much more now. I’ve said to her she is going every day from now on.

“The thing is she is doing really well at school and I feel bad for letting her down.”

Meanwhile, Jason Way, of Chowns Close, in Thame, was charged with failing to send a child to school at Barley Hill Primary School, in Thame.

He failed to attend the hearing at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was sentenced in his absence to the maximum fine of £1,000, and ordered to pay £150 costs and a £15 victim’s surcharge.

Barry Armstrong, of the council’s children, young people and families team, said: “The county council would expect parents and carers to take all reasonable action to ensure their child accesses appropriate education at all times, but where there is a clear failure to take this reasonable action, prosecution of parents would be considered.

“At the end of the day it’s a parent’s responsibility to ensure their child accesses education and it’s the child who in the long term loses out if a parent does not take this responsibility seriously.

“In terms of statistics they speak for themselves — year-on-year reduction in levels of absence in Oxfordshire for the last three years.

“However, we would all recognise that where we end up with a family in court this is an acknowledgement that despite the best efforts of agencies and schools there has not been a positive outcome for the child.”