The Isle of Wight council is once again in the national news in relation to prosecuting parents for taking children out of school during term time.
The Sunday Times ran a story yesterday which has been picked up by the other national newspapers about a ‘gagging order’ the Isle of Wight council fought to not have lifted on a school holiday fines case against Michael and Charlotte Lewis.
Employer ordered to deduct fines from salary
The couple took their children out of school for a family holiday during term time, due to one child being autistic and unable to be around large crowds.
After arriving home and having moved house, Michael and Charlotte discovered they’d been ordered by the court to pay £1,600 in fines.
They only learnt about this this when their employer, Jon Platt of JMP Partnership, was ordered to deduct the amount owed from their salaries.
Application to lift protection order
The couple contested the fine and the case was set aside (ie. dropped), but due to normal court restrictions when there’s a case involving children, a protection order was put in place to prevent their identities being revealed in any reporting of the case.
After being approached by The Sunday Times, Michael and Charlotte Lewis filed an application to have the order lifted so their story could be told.
Council opposition
OnTheWight understands the Isle of Wight Council had originally told the couple they would not oppose the application to lift the order. We put a query into the Isle of Wight council about this, but at time of publishing they had not responded (see update below).
However, when Michael Lewis appeared in court on Friday morning (representing himself), he unexpectedly faced opposition from the IWC’s lawyers.
IWC fought dirty
According to Jon Platt, it appears the council lawyers fought dirty in court accusing the Lewis’ of attempting to profit from the story. The Lewis’ argued the story was in the public interest.
Despite the IWC opposition in court, Michael Lewis won the case and the order was lifted.
No comment
OnTheWight tried to get a comment from the council on Friday afternoon but were told,
“The Isle of Wight Council will not be commenting on this matter at this time.”
Update 16.05
A spokesperson from Isle of Wight council told OnTheWight,
“The council did not formally oppose, or consent to, the application made to the magistrates’ court on Friday in relation to reporting restrictions. It had representation at court to make appropriate submissions to ensure that the court was aware of all the relevant background.”
Article edit
Statement from IWC added 11.7.2016 at 4.05pm.
Image: tobifirestone under CC BY 2.0
