Cherie's mothers-in-jail plea

Ms Booth, the wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair, told the Independent on Sunday that prison was sometimes the only option, but added that she believes alternative punishments should continue to be explored.

She said: "It is not a soft option to make an offender face up to what she has done, to repay directly to her victim or do enforced community work.

"Nor is it a soft option to be tagged electronically, to take responsibility for her family and to have to undertake treatment to stop drinking or break a drug addiction to stay out of prison.

"But it does allow society to ensure that mothers can make amends for their crimes without causing unnecessary damage to themselves and their children."

Ms Booth, who has sentenced offenders while sitting in courts as a Recorder, said sending a mother to prison was one of the hardest decisions for a judge.

She told the newspaper: "You are always aware of the impact on the mother herself and, more importantly, on her children."

Ms Booth, who has four children, said that prison separates more than 17,500 children from their mothers each year, according to Home Office figures.

She said imprisonment was made worse for mothers because of concern for their children and the fear of losing them permanently.

Ms Booth added that only "a handful" of children are able to stay in their home when their mother is sent to prison. She said children are often "passed from one relative to another", forcing them to change schools and lose friends.