A MOTHER has provoked anger by allowing her 14-year-old daughter to have sex with the girl's older boyfriend in the family home.
Daniel Balfour, 22, admitted having under-age sex with the schoolgirl on several occasions during a six-month period.
During his court case, his lawyer said that the relationship was going on with the full knowledge of the girl's mother and that B
alfour was allowed to stay at her house in Eyemouth, Berwickshire, three or four nights a week.
Even prosecutors accepted the relationship was entirely consensual and that the mother had allowed things to happen under her roof.
Her attitude has caused concern in the town, where some say she should have called the police when she first got wind that the couple were having sex.
But the mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, defended her actions. She said: "Do you know what your 14-year-old daughter is doing? Well, I do."
The mother said she accepted the relationship was not legal. She had tried to stop it on many occasions but it carried on behind her back.
She explained: "As many mothers know, you can't lock a 14-year-old in their room until they are 16.
"After finding out the lad was 22, I did all I could to get them to end the relationship, as did her father. It was a joint decision to let the relationship continue, not just mine.
"I would rather know where my daughter is and who she is with than have her running around the streets getting into trouble.
"In an ideal world, we all try to protect our children and this is what I was trying to do.
"As much as I didn't like the situation, I felt that by keeping them close, I could monitor the situation rather than them running away behind my back.
"If I felt my daughter was in any danger from this lad, I would have killed him myself.
"This is a young girl who met him and thinks she is in love. Tell me what I should do. I felt I was between a rock and a hard place."
South of Scotland MSP Christine Grahame was unhappy that the mother had allowed the relationship to continue.
She said: "This is completely outrageous. There is a major difference between not knowing and consenting to your 14-year-old daughter having sex.
"This girl is in need of care and protection from her mother's values, which appear to be upside down."
Bill Aitken, the Tory justice spokesman, said: "I find this woman's attitude astonishing.
"It is for her to influence and indeed control her daughter's behaviour. The girl is only 14, for heaven's sake.
"This is quite a depressing story where a parent has neglected her responsibility for the welfare of her child."
Balfour, who describes himself as "engaged", says on his internet social networking page that he wants to spend the rest of his life with the girl.
The man, of Berwick-upon-Tweed, pleaded guilty at Duns Sheriff Court to having under-age sex with a 14-year-old girl between 1 April and 6 October.
The matter came to light last month when the girl had a row with her mother about the relationship and in turn spoke to a teacher about it.
After speaking to the girl, the teacher contacted Scottish Borders Council's social work department and they in turn contacted Lothian and Borders Police.
Sheriff Kevin Drummond deferred sentence for background reports until 6 January.
He also placed Balfour on the sex offenders' register for a provisional period of five years.
BACKGROUNDTHE age of consent in the UK is 16. Any adult who has sex with someone under 16, even with their consent, is breaking the law.
Since the 2003 Sexual Offences Bill became law, all sexual acts – not just penetrative sex – became a criminal offence if at least one of the people involved, male or female, is under 16.
One of the main concerns of policymakers was protecting young people from abuse by older people. Some people believe it complicates the position with regard to consent even more.
In extreme cases, it could even have the effect of criminalising people under 16 for consensual sexual acts with other people of the same age.
