School fails to inform parents of their child's court case

The parents of a teenager who was accompanied to court by a teacher and sentenced for theft without their knowledge have slammed the school concerned. The parents of a 17-year-old girl at Surbiton High school in Surrey only realised that their daughter had been to court when they found a summons for the unpaid fine.

The pupil had been caught fare dodging on a bus. Although 17 when the offence was committed, by the time the case hearing came up she had turned 18. Consequently London Transport wasn't obliged to inform her parents of the case.

The teenager kept the details of her court hearing from her parents, but when the school found out, a teacher accompanied the girl to court where she pleaded guilty to theft.

'Our daughter went to court without a solicitor to plead her case and she now has a criminal record which she will have to declare for five years and for the rest of her life if she wants to work in a wide range of jobs and professions,' said the teenager's mother. ' Parents at all schools need to be made aware of the procedures in place to support pupils when decisions are made not to involve them.'

A spokesperson for the school said that 'Section 2 of the Data Protection Act 1988 refers to sensitive personal data, including criminal offences and sentences imposed. According to our legal advisers, where a pupil is deemed by the school to be 'Gillick competent', we are unable to disclose sensitive personal data to parents without the specific consent of the pupil.'

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