A DEWSBURY mum let her three children play truant to protect them from school bullies, a court heard this week.
The 47-year-old single mother stood trial at Dewsbury Magistrates' Court accused of failing to ensure her three children went to school.
She said she had not forced her teenagers to attend their Spenborough secondary school because they were suff
ering racial and physical abuse and nothing was being done by the school or the Local Education Authority to stop it.
Sign up here for free email news alerts to let you know whenever a story breaks on our website. Dewsbury magistrates passed an order banning the identification of the children and therefore the school and mother at Wednesday's hearing.
Prosecuting on behalf of Kirklees Council Carol Holberry said the children, now aged 14, 15, and 17, were registered at the school but had a history of poor attendance.
From January 14 to June 27 2008, out of a possible 190 days, her 14-year-old son only attended school on three occasions. His 15-year-old sister attended four sessions and the third teen, who was 16 at the time, did not attend at all.
During the academic year 2006 to 2007 the mum had been issued with fixed penalty notices for her children's truancy.
Mrs Holberry said letters sent to the mum by the school and education social workers were ignored.
Education social worker Jim Maxwell told the court he tried to arrange numerous meetings with the mother but each time she either or cancelled or not turned up.
Mr Maxwell said the mum mentioned bullying during one chat but had not given specific names. The school was not aware of the bullying and the mother was difficult to contact.
Defending, Paul Normandale said the mother had contacted the school several times to say her children were being bullied and got frustrated when it seemed the school and the LEA were doing nothing about it.
The mother said it got so bad that one day she found a note in her older daughter's bedroom expressing her wish to end her life.
She added her 15-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son also suffered.
"My daughter went from being a happy and confident child who wanted to achieve, to being a very unhappy girl. My son suffered physical violence, he was constantly threatened and came home from school one day with bruises all over his legs and his arms," the mum said.
Both daughters gave evidence at the trial. They said their mum had told them they needed to go to school, but the bullying was so bad they refused.
The 15-year-old cried as she told how she was constantly bullied and intimidated.
Her 17-year-old sister, who is now at college, said: "One person told me to strap a bomb around myself and blow myself up. I didn't report it because I was too frightened. Mum kept saying I should go to school, that I needed my education and I did go back but the bullying wasn't sorted."
The mum said she had been in to the school on numerous occasions and tried to contact the headteacher and Mr Maxwell by phone but they were always unavailable.
She got to the stage where she was sick of seeing her children come home upset and she just decided to stop the stress.
When Mr Normandale asked if she'd thought about sending them to another school, she said: "I thought about it, but I'd just given up. What's the point in sending them to another school for it to happen again?
"My survival tactic is to close the doors and keep my children in safe. I'd had enough."
Lynne Cliff, the chairman of the bench, said although there was no disputing the fact that mum had failed to ensure her children attended school, there was some justification for her actions.
Under the 1996 Education Act, parents must ensure their children regularly attend school. The second part of the act says if a parent knows their child is not attending school, they must ensure they attend, but a parent can be found not guilty of this part, if there is reasonable justification for not making the child attend.
The magistrates found her guilty of failing to ensure her children attended school, but not guilty of the second part as they believed there was reasonable justification.
She was given a conditional discharge and parenting order for 12 months.
