A judge has granted a sentence reprieve for the parents of a girl who has missed 381 days of school since 2012.
Dublin District Court was told the girl has returned to school and Judge John O’Neill acceded to a request by the Child and Family Agency (CFA) to adjourn the case until March 11. He has spoken to the girl and has also warned that her parents could face jail.
The 14-year-old had gone to school on just 26 dates from September 2012 until January and should be preparing to sit the Junior Certificate exams this year. However, she missed so many days she is now “anti-school”, the court had already heard.
The judge has also heard the girl’s mother once claimed to a school attendance official that her truant daughter had moved to the UK and was living with relative there.
Earlier education and welfare officer Jennifer Redmond has told Judge O’Neill the woman said her daughter, “is a Traveller girl and she would not be attending any school in England or at home”.
The CFA brought the prosecution against the parents because the girl consistently missed school since she made the transition to second level education. They could each get fined up to €1,000 and jailed for a month.
They pleaded guilty to breaking section 25 of the Education (Welfare) Act for not complying with an official warning requiring them to ensure their child went to school.