The mother of Katherine Jenkins' schoolgirl mugger says her 'grade A student' daughter's dreams of a law career lie in tatters after her conviction for stealing the singer's iPhone.

She said the 'super-bright' 15-year-old has been forced to abandon her ambition of becoming a lawyer - and she just wants to meet the star to apologise to her.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, her mother said: 'She is a grade A student, which was even mentioned in court.

'She was planning to leave school this summer and go to college to do A levels and then study to be a solicitor.

A former 'grade A student' is led away handcuffed by police in London last month after being arrested for trying to steal Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins, 39, for her iPhone

The girl says she wants to personally apologise to Jenkins for trying to take her mobile phone when the star saw her and a friend trying to snatch an elderly woman's handbag

'Now that's going to be very hard and she's very depressed because that's what all she's been working towards.

'My daughter has spent a lot of time lying in bed and crying since this all happened. She wants to meet Katherine Jenkins to apologise and move forward with her life but that's proving to be very difficult at the moment.'

On Monday, the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons because of her age, admitted to mugging Katherine Jenkins for her £500 iPhone after the star bravely tried to stop her attacker snatching an elderly woman's handbag on the King's Road.

The girl told magistrates that she grabbed the singer's phone fearing she was being filmed while trying to rob the woman Jenkins stepped in to protect before Christmas, although it is understood Ms Jenkins was not in fact filming anything.

The star was in London to sing at the Henry van Straubenzee charity carol concert at St Luke's Church in Chelsea on Wednesday December 4 - and still performed despite being robbed because she 'didn't want to let the charity down'.

The teenager's mother recoils when she sees the photos of the star with police after what her daughter did. She says it has been difficult to accept what her offspring had done

The teenager, who was arrested at the scene with a female friend, also pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, to assault by beating of an emergency worker.

Speaking from her home in North London, the teenager's mother, 35, revealed that in recent months her daughter had been mixing with a group of friends she did not approve of and was spending more time with them out of the house.

The mother, who MailOnline is not naming to protect her daughter's identity, maintains that it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep tabs on her daughter and know what she was getting up to.

Jenkins (above) was in London to sing at a charity carol service at the time it happened

She insisted that the teenager had fallen into bad company and blamed her friends for leading her astray.

She added: 'My daughter has generally been very well behaved but lately she's fallen into a bad crowd. I have never liked her friends, they're not a good bunch. A lot of them have got into trouble before and my daughter has been influenced by them.

'She's gone from being a grade A student to a mugger. I really don't understand how that happened. It's hard bringing up a child in London. You try and give them freedom, but you can't be watching them all the time and control what they do.'

She admitted that she had noticed her daughter spending less time on her studies recently but because no concerns were raised by the school, she did not think it was anything to worry about.

'For me, this is a case of peer pressure. I never saw this coming and am still trying to get my head around it all,' she added.

'I'm very upset by what's happened and would also like to personally apologise to Katherine Jenkins. I'd like to do it face-to-face but don't know how that would be possible.

'My daughter is grounded for the foreseeable future and will not be allowed out until she finds a new group of friends because these people have not been good for her.

'Look at the trouble they've got her into. She needs to find decent people to spend time with.

The teenager's mother said her daughter had been accompanying a friend to an interview at a hairdresser when she robbed the star. Pictured: Another girl is arrested over the incident

'It's very hard for me, I don't trust my daughter at the moment, that's why I'm not letting her out. She has caused the whole family a lot of bother and we are all suffering as a result of what she's done.'

The girl was handed a six-month referral order by District Judge Susan Williams, meaning she will have to attend sessions with the youth offending team to address her behaviour. Her mother was also ordered to pay £20 compensation.

The mother-of-three, who works as a catering assistant at a school, says her daughter's two younger siblings are struggling to understand the actions of their older sister.

She added: 'My daughter was a bit of a role model for her two brothers. That's what makes this really hard, trying to explain to them what their sister has done. I'm not sure if they look up to her anymore.

'This is the first time she has been convicted of a criminal offence. Since her arrest she has been attending school.

'The school have been very supportive because they know that she is a good kid. She's done something which is out of character for her.

'I have spoken to her about what happened but still don't understand why she did it. I'm confident that she will eventually get over this and get back on the right path but it's going to take some time.'

During the hearing, the court was told how the girl had accompanied a teenage friend to a job interview at a hairdresser before the attack.

A police officer holds the second schoolgirl mugging suspect on the Kings Road, London

The pair were seen on CCTV, shown to the court, trying to take an elderly woman's bag before the defendant lashed out.

Robert Simpson, prosecuting, said: 'It was in the King's Road London. Ms Jenkins was walking in the street she had a drink in her hand and was using her mobile phone.

'She saw the defendant being involved in a struggle with another lady trying to take her bag.

'She believed the defendant thought she was filming her and moved towards her, knocked the cup out of her hand, took her phone, and made off round the corner with it.

'She made a telephone call to the police they arrived and put Mrs Jenkins in their van and took her in the direction the girl had gone.

'The two girls were identified to the police and the phone recovered but at that point the screen had been broken and there had been a clumsy attempt to remove the sim card.'

CCTV footage played to the court showed the two girls attempting to take a bag from a woman.

When Ms Jenkins stepped in the teenager charged at her. Liquid could then be seen spilling into the air.