Seventeen parents of persistent school absentees in Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough prosecuted in court

A number of parents have appeared before the magistrates' court to be sentenced for failing to ensure their children are in school regularly.

The local education authority has stepped-up its prosecution of parents who persistently defy the law in recent years and many of them have appeared before magistrates.

Seventeen parents were before the court on January 17 to be sentenced under the single justice procedure.

They were all charged with the offence of being a parent of a child of compulsory school age who failed to attend regularly under the Education Act 1996. All the offences took place during the middle of last year. Some of the children were not regularly in school for up to five months.

No reasons were given for the children's non-attendance in court papers but the step is only taken as a last resort after other interventions including penalty notices have failed. Parents are only usually prosecuted where there are unexplained absences of more than three weeks. Where there are two parents, both will be prosecuted where possible.

We have taken the decision not to identify the defendants to protect the identities of their children, but we are identifying the schools involved.

- One Wellingborough mum had to pay fines and costs of £846 for failing to regularly send her child to Sir Christopher Hatton School for two months last Spring.

- A mum and dad from Corby were fined £1,088 each for failing to regularly send their two children to Our Lady of Walsingham RC Primary in Corby for three months last summer.

- A Corby woman was fined £604 for not regularly sending her child to Lodge Park Academy for five months during last summer and winter.

- A mum from Corby was fined £604 for not ensuring her child was regularly at Rockingham Primary Academy for two months during last summer.

- A Corby mum was fined £354 after failing to regularly send her child to Exeter: A Learning Community for a month last summer.

- One Corby mum was fined £604 for failing to ensure her two children regularly attended Kingswood Secondary Academy for two months last summer term.

- A second Corby mum and dad were fined £1,088 each for not ensuring their two children regularly attended Our Lady of Walsingham RC Primary for two months last summer.

- A mum from Wellingborough was handed a £846 fine for not regularly sending her child to Freemans Endowed CE Junior Academy.

- A Corby mum was fined £1,572 for not regularly sending her three children to Kingswood Secondary Academy for a month last summer.

- A Kettering mum and dad were fined £245 and £487 respectively for failing for regularly send their child to Hayfield Cross School for three months in the summer.

- A Corby mum was fined £1,088 for not ensuring her two children were regularly at Lodge Park Academy for four months during last spring and summer.

- A mum and dad from Corby were fined £374 each for failing to ensure their child was regularly at Lodge Park Academy for two months during last summer.

- A Corby dad was fined £466 for failing to regularly send his two children to Kingswood Secondary Academy for two months during last summer.