Dad who beat £2,500 fine for taking kids on holiday during term time urges parents to fight back
Tom and Marisa Cafferty were not given permission to take their children to Florida to visit their grandparents in Florida but took an unauthorised absence
A DAD who beat a £2,500 fine for taking kids on holiday during term time has urged other parents to fight against school absence laws.
Tom and Marisa Cafferty, both 37, wanted to take their children, Sean, eight and Charlotte, 11 to visit their grandparents in Florida.
They asked their children's headteacher but their request was refused.
However this didn't stop Tom and Marisa who went ahead and took an unauthorised absence.
Fines were issued but Northamptonshire Council decided not to prosecute, reports .
Tom said: "It was a matter of principle so I'm glad we didn't pay.
"I would say to any parents in the same position: Fight it and take a stand."
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Unauthorised absences are subject to a £60 fine per child which is doubled to £120 if not paid in 21 days.
The Cafferty's chose not to pay the £240 fine for both children and were due in Northampton Magistrates Court this month for 'failing to ensure their children attended school regularly'.
Tom, of Kettering, added: "They never miss lessons, so for the council to say they weren't attending regularly was nonsense."
The couple faced a fine of up to £2,500 or three months in prison.
However the council dropped the prosecution but refused to say why.
Tom said he was inspired by fellow parent Jon Platt, who refused to pay a fine after he took his daughter on a family holiday during term time but had it dropped after he won a High Court case.
The couple, who also have a third child, Jake, four, asked teachers at Kettering's Millbrook Junior School for homework, which their children did on holiday.
The family were visiting grandparents whom they had not seen for three years.
Tom said: "It's not right that people who have genuine reasons for taking their kids out of school are being penalised.
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