Mother in court for bringing son to see dying granddad during term time in Majorca

Palma.—A mother who brought  her son to see his granddad in Majorca one last time before he died has ended up with a criminal record – because she took the boy out of school during term-time.
Sally Randall, 35, brought son James, 13, on a 10-day break, which was the dying wish of her father-in-law Graham Crisp.
He had pancreatic cancer and died three months later.
Sally said she had asked Norden High School, Rishton, Lancashire, for permission to take her teenage son James out of class for the trip but the request was refused because it was not ‘an exceptional circumstance’.
And so when the family returned, she was accused of failing to send a child to school and ended up in court.
She pleaded guilty to a truancy charge when she appeared at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court, Lancashire, and was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.