Thousands of parents have been prosecuted for their children missing school and the number is rising, according to newly released figures. Growing numbers are being convicted of truancy offences, facing fines, and in some cases even being sent to jail. The figures were obtained by the Press Association following a Freedom of Information request, skynews.com reported. In total, 16,430 people in England were prosecuted for failing to ensure that a child went to school in 2014 - equivalent to around 86 cases for each day of the school year. That is up a quarter on 2013 when 13,128 people were taken to court. Last year 9,214 parents were issued fines. On average, they were ordered to pay £172. The figures also show the number of people sent to prison more than doubled, with 18 given custodial sentences in 2014, up from seven the year before.
