Parents prosecuted for taking children on holiday during school term

A couple who took their children on holiday to Australia during school term time have been given criminal records. The pair, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of their children, were handed conditional discharges at Nuneaton magistrates court and told to pay a total of £800 towards costs after being prosecuted by Coventry city council. Last September, the Department for Education decided to remove the discretion of head teachers in England to approve absences in ‘special circumstances’, prompting an outcry. The couple in the Nuneaton case took their children on a three-week trip last October. They were issued with a council enforcement notice with a total fine of £240 on their return, and were prosecuted after failing to pay it. The mother was convicted of committing an offence under section 444 of the 1996 Education act and given a 12-month conditional discharge; the father changed his plea to guilty and was given a 10-month conditional discharge. The mother told the court that she had taken the children on holiday as respite from a difficult family situation at home. She said she had been looking after her terminally ill mother-in-law, who lived with the family, for more than two years. After the verdict, she told the Coventry Telegraph: ‘The magistrates gave the fairest verdict they could under the current laws, which are flawed. I fully support any campaign to call for a judicial review. I still feel I did the right thing for my children at the right time,’ according to UNB.