The girl now lives with her father, the court was told

The mother left the 14-year-old with �100 and a fridge full of food, magistrates in Welshpool, Powys heard.

She denied wilfully causing the girl to be neglected and abandoned but the court convicted her and she was bailed.

The neglect included allowing her underage daughter to have sex with a boy, while she was away for six weeks.

The woman now wishes she had not left her daughter alone, the court was told.

The court heard the woman, who cannot be identified, went abroad for six weeks last April.

She was visiting her boyfriend, intending to arrange a British visa for him, while her teenage daughter remained in her home with her own boyfriend.

The mother said she filled the fridge and freezer with meals and arranged for a neighbour and her ex-husband, the girl's father, to look after her.

Missed her mother

The court heard �60 of the cash she left went on school dinners , and that she bought clothes and CDs with the remainder.

Social services were contacted after two days and the girl was then cared for by her father. Her mother returned in June.

On the first day of the trial last month, prosecutor Shaun Spencer said the teenager told police: "She shouldn't have left me on my own".

He added: "She also confessed that she missed her mother."

Defending, Michael Davies told magistrates that the woman "did a Shirley Valentine" and disappeared "without a care for the child and without making adequate arrangements for her to be looked after".

He added: "You may not condone her behaviour, but that is not the issue here."

Mr Davies said the woman believed she had put proper arrangements in place for her daughter's care, and that her father had looked after her on previous occasions.

Sexual relationship

Both the neighbour and the girl's father told the court they were not aware the woman wanted them to look after the girl.

Magistrates heard the woman knew her daughter was having a sexual relationship with a boy and allowed it to take place, which the court ruled was neglect.

The chairman, also called Michael Davies, said the woman was also guilty of abandoning her child.

He said the woman's daughter and her boyfriend were "vulnerable" and had limited funds and no hot water in the house.

He said there were no arrangements for the girl and her boyfriend to stay with a neighbour.

Emotional distress

"As far as she was concerned, she was just keeping an eye on her. No one was left with specific responsibility for them."

Mr Davies said the woman "abdicated her responsibilities" by failing to return when she learned social services and police had become involved.

He said the teenager has suffered emotional distress, and warned the woman could be jailed.

The girl now lives with her father but sees her mother almost every day.

The case was adjourned for sentencing on 10 March and the woman, who has no previous convictions, was bailed.