PARENTS who take their children out of school without permission to go on holiday can be prosecuted after a father lost a landmark legal battle over taking his daughter to Disney World during term-time.
Jon Platt was prosecuted by Isle of Wight Council after he refused to pay a £120 fine for taking his daughter on a seven-day family trip to Florida in April 2015 without the school's permission.
But local magistrates found there was no case to answer, so the local authority took the case to the High Court in London.
Two senior judges then upheld the magistrates’ decision and declared that Mr Platt was not acting unlawfully because his daughter had a good overall attendance record of over 92 per cent.
But Isle of Wight council appealed to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.
And today, Supreme Court judges said Mr Platt had shown a “blatant disregard of school rules” and that his approach had been a “slap in the face” to parents who play by the rules.
It means that parents who take their children out of school to go on holiday - even if their child has regular attendance - can be prosecuted if they do not receive permission from the head teacher.
