The woman was jailed for 28 days on Monday

The mother from the Amman Valley is the second in the region to be sentenced to 28 days in prison in an effort to combat truancy.

But her brother claims that her health problems were not properly considered by the court.

She was prosecuted by Carmarthenshire Council under the Education Act.

Her 15-year-old son and daughter aged 12 are both pupils at Amman Valley Comprehensive School.

Magistrates at Ammanford heard how her son had not attended any lessons since October, while her daughter has a 50% attendance rate this year.

Her brother said the fact that her health problems were not considered by magistrates was "unbelievable."

She has made every effort and the court hasn't given her credit for it The woman's brother

"She has a history of agoraphobia but that wasn't mentioned in court," he said.

"She's got small children but they've been ripped away from their brothers and sisters and gone to a foster family for a month - it's just not fair.

"Where do you draw the line between the parents' responsibility and the education authority's responsibility?"

The woman - who cannot be named - was in breach of a 12 month conditional discharge issued last April for failing to send them to school - and was jailed for 28 days on Monday.

"She has made every effort and the court hasn't given her credit for it," her brother argued.

"She's virtually a single parent. We have no extended family.

"I'm going to write to my local MP about the matter," he added.

Last April a mother from Llanelli became the first in Wales to be jailed for truancy offences.

She appealed against the sentence but it was upheld by a crown court judge.