The case was heard at the magistrates court in Llanelli

The woman from Llanelli - who was jailed for 28 days on Monday - is believed to be the first parent in Wales to be imprisoned under tough new truancy rules.

She was jailed by magistrates following action taken by Carmarthenshire County Council under the Education Act because her son had failed to attend any lessons at his comprehensive for three months.

The parent's solicitor David Elvy said an application to appeal the sentence would be lodged on Tuesday.

The boy is now staying temporarily with his father - the jailed woman's former husband.

He man has criticised the council for bringing the prosecution against his former partner, and accused officials of failing to arrange proper care for his son during the prison sentence.

Prison's a place for criminals and she's no criminal Jailed woman's ex-husband

"Not one person has got in touch with me from any department," he said. But the council said it had contacted the boy's grandmother and aunt in order to arrange care.

He said he only heard of the jail term through rumours at work and, he added : "She's been dragged off in a prison van like a criminal - and she's not. Prison's a place for criminals and she's no criminal."

The truant teenage boy's sister said her brother should have been taken to task - and not their mother who was punished for his truancy.

"I can't believe that my mother's been sent to prison, she's never been in trouble in her life, never done anything wrong," she said.

'Boy to blame'

"I think my brother should have been punished, not my mother.

"She's tried to get him to go to school, and my father has tried numerous times. It's him himself who's got the problem - it's not her fault."

On Monday the council said it had made repeated efforts to help the woman - all to no avail.

She had, in fact, appeared in court several times before because of her son's absences from school.

"I'm afraid to say that this mother has attended court on at least eight previous occasions, so it is certainly not a one-off," said the council's Philip Jones.

"There has been a lot of hard work put in by the authority, but sadly it has resulted in this sentence today."

There has been a lot of hard work put in by the authority, but sadly it has resulted in this sentence Philip Jones, Carmarthenshire County Council

Education officers will be talking to other family members during the half-term break to ensure the teenager returns to school next term.

The prosecution comes just a week after a mother from Cambridge was given a six-week sentence for failing to send her 16-year-old son to school.

And in May last year, 43-year-old Patricia Amos from Oxfordshire, was jailed for 60 days after she failed to stop her children playing truant.

A parents' group set up to campaign against the new truancy laws has condemned the latest prison sentence.

Louise Harvey, spokeswoman for the group Parents Against Truancy Court Orders, said: "Our reaction is one of horror that another parent has been sent to prison.

"If that teenager had not been to school for 12 weeks then surely that is a signal that something has gone wrong.

"What is needed is support from the school and the local education authority to address that rather than a prison sentence."