Desperate mum had reached the ‘end of her tether’

A DESPERATE mum was given a suspended prison sentence and banned from driving by Oldham magistrates yesterday after a mini crime wave prompted by her daughter’s behaviour.

Vicky Armitage (31), of Abercorn Street, Leesfield, had reached the “end of her tether” with her 15-year-old daughter, who was failing to attend school and taking legal highs.

One night she came home to find her daughter in her room with legal highs scattered on her bedroom floor. Armitage went to her friend’s house for a drink.

When she returned home her daughter and friends were still using the legal drugs, and Armitage drove to a shop she thought was selling them, covered the shutters in hairspray and attempted to set it on fire. She was caught on CCTV and chased by police.

When they caught her, a breathalyser test showed she was more than three times over the legal limit.

She was also driving without insurance. Officers found a kitchen knife in her bag.

Timothy Hughes, defending, said: “Ms Armitage lives a very awkward life, driven to despair by the behaviour of her teenage daughter.

“She is not a delinquent parent and has tried everything to change her ways. She hopes the prospect of her mother appearing in court will have finally burrowed into her daughter’s brain.”

Armitage was given an eight-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, disqualified from driving for two years and fined £165.