A FATHER whose son clocked up 136 abscences from school between January and April was fined £750 yesterday.
The teenage boy's absences from school were all unauthorised, magistrates in Guisborough were told.
The magistrates fined the man, from east Cleveland, and ordered him to pay £40 costs.
The father had not appeared in court nor had he submitted a letter of mitigation.
The prosecution was brought by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.
The council's principal education social worker Lynn Strachan said after the case: "It was a serious case and we did try every way possible to avoid a prosecution. However, in the end we were left with no alternative.
"The level of the fine shows that magistrates are treating matters of non-school attendance seriously and we hope that other parents will be warned of the penalties available to courts if they fail to ensure their children are regular school attenders."
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