A MOTHER who contacted her children on Facebook while they were in care has narrowly avoided prison because the judge refused to make her a martyr.

The woman used the social networking site to contact two of her daughters, despite being banned from doing so.

Judge Richard Rundell – who took the unusual step of granting your Worcester News access to the family court hearing – dismissed her claim that it was her son and niece who had posted the messages.

Judge Rundell told the woman she was facing prison, but later decided to suspend the six-month sentence to avoid turning her into a martyr.

The woman, in her forties, who cannot be named to protect the children, has a number of children in care.

An order was made in September banning her or any third parties from contacting the girls because it was said any contact could be emotionally damaging for them.

This week Judge Rundell decided that the woman was in breach of the non-contact injunction.

She had denied sending messages and claimed that they were sent by her teenage son and her niece.

The judge said the woman "had a rant" about children's services but he rejected an accusation that there had been a conspiracy on the part of Worcestershire County Council to "set her up."

"This is a very serious allegation with no evidence to support it," he said. "Both social workers have acted properly and fairly throughout this case.

"I am satisfied that the local authority have proved the allegations of direct communication between mother and children."

The woman, who no longer lives in Worcester, represented herself and declined an offer for an adjournment so she could have a lawyer.

When the court re-convened, the judge suspended the six-month jail sentence for two years. He said he did not want the woman to see herself as a martyr who wanted to be sent to prison to fortify her campaign.