A BOY was left in a sweltering car for more than four hours outside a court after his mother was jailed for not sending him to school.

Emma Wardle, 30, had left the 11-year-old while she appeared before magistrates in Salford charged with failing to make sure he attended Dukesgate Primary in Little Hulton.

She was jailed for two months after the hearing was told that the boy had been to school just once since Easter.

While Wardle was being led down to the cells, her son was left waiting for her in the car. He was eventually spotted by a probation officer who noticed he was upset.

He took the boy inside the court and gave him a drink before contacting a social worker. Police are now investigating what happened.

It is understood that when she attended court for the hearing, Wardle assumed she would not be jailed and so left her son outside. The boy is now with his grandparents.

Warrant

It is the first time that anyone has been imprisoned in Salford for failing to make sure their child attends school. The court heard that during the last school year, the boy attended 118 out of 284 possible occasions.

Wardle, of Mill Hill, Little Hulton, Salford, had been bailed to appear in court several times since the initial hearing in January this year.

A warrant for Wardle's arrest was issued on May 22 after she failed to attend a court hearing.

Coun John Warmisham Salford council's lead member for children's services, said: "The last thing we want to do is see someone sent to prison if it can be avoided. But in the end, the responsibility rests with the parents. Most people manage to send their child to school without any difficulty, but where that doesn't happen, people are breaking the law and we will take action."

Wardle's mother, Florence, said that her grandson had been devastated by the court's decision.

She said: "My grandson cried himself to sleep."

Wardle and her son were due to fly out on a two-week holiday to Turkey today.

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