THIS 13-YEAR-OLD Brit drinks, smokes, takes drugs and admits to having had sex.

But instead of being outraged by her behaviour, Sam Holt's mother has described the teenager as 'sweet' rather than shocking.

Worse still, mother Tracy Holt even rewards Sam with cigarettes on the rare occasions when she does behave.

Miss Holt, a jobless single mother in Hampshire with two other adult children, told Closer magazine: 'I don't see the point in punishing her.

'If I ground her, I'm just punishing myself because I have to put up with her in the house. Instead, I reward her good behaviour by giving her cigarettes. If she's bad, she goes without.

'She's a little comedian. I let her get away with a lot of cheek. It's sweet.'

The mother insists that giving out cigarettes as a reward 'works'. She said: 'There are a lot worse things she could be doing.

'We've all got to die sometime. I haven't got cancer from smoking so she'll probably be all right anyway.'

As for drinking, Miss Holt says Sam only drinks a couple of cans of lager a night.

The mother says she also decided not to get angry about her daughter losing her virginity at 12, instead insisting that Sam uses contraception.

No punishment

Explaining her stand on her daughter having sex, she said: 'I didn't punish her.'

'It wasn't a one-night stand. She had been dating the guy for a couple of weeks.

'I took her to the doctor's the next day to get her contraception. I've told her to use condoms as well.'

Sam admits having had four sexual partners in less than a year, but said: 'I only sleep with boyfriends. I worry about getting pregnant because I don't want kids until I'm married so I always use condoms.'

Miss Holt, who smokes 20 sticks a day, also appears relaxed about her daughter's other dangerous habits.

She said: 'Sam often hangs out with her mates on the streets and they'll drink lager and smoke pot.

'She smokes a joint every now and then. I don't think she's tried anything harder.'

Miss Holt also seems unfazed by Sam's dismal record at school, where she has been excluded for bad behaviour more than 40 times.

'Sam got suspended for the first time after she climbed on to the school roof,' she said.

'I shouted at her and then explained she shouldn't climb on roofs because she could fall off. I didn't know what else to do.'

Miss Holt blames teachers at Sam's former school for being 'too soft'. She said: 'Now she is at a special school where there are fewer kids in each class.

'Hopefully these teachers will be stricter and she will finally get the discipline that's needed.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Oct 22, 2008.