A mother who appeared in the BBC 's controversial documentary 'People Like Us ' is facing jail after she refused to pay a fine for taking her teenage daughter out of school to go on holiday . Karen Wakefield and her husband Paul Dawson were one of a number of families who featured on the six-part BBC documentary , which aimed to show what life was like in Harpurhey in Manchester . It was criticised by those who starred in it as intentionally painting them in a negative light . Mrs Wakefield , who runs Wishy Washy launderette in the town , is due to appear in court after she refused to pay fines for taking her 13-year-old daughter out of school for six days to go on holiday to Turkey . Karen Wakefield and her partner Paul ( centre ) could face three months in jail for refusing to pay fines for taking her 13-year-old daughter ( right ) out of school during term time to go on holiday to Turkey . She has refused to pay two initial £60 fines and subsequent £120 fines , and claims she and her husband have been told they could be jailed for three months or given fines of £1,000 each . The mother-of-two said she 'does n't like being told by teachers when she can go on holiday ' and said she is determined to fight the case all the way . Mrs Wakefield said her daughter 's school , the Manchester Communication Academy , refused to give her permission to take her daughter abroad during term last year . The trip , at the end of the six-weeks ' holiday , meant the pupil missed six days of lessons at the start of the new school year . She said her child deserved the trip because of alleged bullying at the school . Mrs Wakefield said she does n't like the school telling her what to do , and took her daughter out of Manchester Communication Academy during term time to go on holiday . Mrs Wakefield claims her daughter needed a holiday after she was bullied at school . The owner of Wishy Washy was seen showing viewers CCTV from the launderette of some of her customers . Mrs Wakefield , who has another daughter Amber , 21 , added : 'We told the truth and told the school we were going on holiday . We did n't lie and say she was ill or anything . 'But they said we did n't have permission . She deserved to go on holiday - she 's been bullied at the school . She 's had a hard time of it . 'We refused to pay the fines - it 's ridiculous . We do n't like being told when you can go on holiday by teachers . The six-part BBC Three documentary was watched by 1million people . Producers said the fly-on-the-wall documentary aimed to show what life was like in Manchester . But locals who featured in the show claimed the show was 'faked ' to make them appear drunken , fat and lazy . More than 300 people attended a public meeting to call for the series to be axed , claiming rather than showing how Harpurhey had developed - it illustrated it as a deprived area . They said the show made them look like 'Jeremy Kyle Show-type chavs ' - a talk show which frequently features swearing and fighting . Locals claimed they were tricked into taking part and encouraged to drink alcohol and fight on camera by the film crew . This was flatly denied by production company Dragonfly . 'What about when they 're on strike or there 's a training day ? It 's no different to her missing a few days on holiday . 'It would be different if her grades were low but she is very clever and doing better than expected despite being bullied . ' A spokeswoman for the school said Manchester City Council is pursuing legal action on its behalf . A council spokesman said : 'Local authorities have a statutory obligation to take action on non- attendance in schools , and although schools work very closely with pupils and parents to ensure pupils are in school every day they should be , legal action is sometimes necessary to enforce this . ' Mrs Wakefield shot to fame when she appeared on the BBC3 show , which attracted audiences of 1million . After it aired the 'fly on the wall documentary ' was criticised as making locals featured in it look like 'Jeremy Kyle Show-type chavs . ' This was denied by programme makers who said they had adhered to all BBC guidelines .
Karen Wakefield and family appeared in a charity Like Us charity . Mother - of - two was fined for taking daughter out of school to go to school . But she refused to pay the fine and could now be jailed for three months . ben Wakefield said her and her husband could also be fined £ 1,000 each and she ' does n't like being fined ' when she is allowed to go on holiday .