Judge issues jail warning to dad following non attendance of 8-year-old daughter
A judge has told a father that he will jail him if there isn’t 100% school attendance by his eight-year-old daughter between now and May 25.
At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan issued the threat after stating after rejecting the contents of a doctor’s certificate that the girl missed two recent days in school due to tonsillitis.
Solicitor, Dermot O’Donovan representing the Child and Family Agency (CFA) said that the girl had missed two days out of nine.
He said: That is certified by a doctor who said that the girl had tonsillitis - and that is accepted.
However, this was rejected by Judge Durcan. Addressing the father, Judge Durcan said: “I don’t believe this report, your child has not been attending school and should be attending school.”
Addressing the non-Irish national father, Judge Durcan said: “Child - school - or you go to jail.”
Judge Durcan also read out the medical cert provided by the GP on behalf of the girl.
He read out ‘to whom it may concern this is to certify that I have examined this child and in my opinion, he/she is unfit to work on 16th to 17th of April due to tonsillitis”
Judge Durcan commented: “Is it now we hear that doctors are getting eight year olds to go out to work?”
Addressing the child’s solicitor, Daragh Hassett, Judge Durcan said: “Do you understand why I treat reports from doctors with the utmost caution?”
Mr O’Donovan said that in fairness to the child, from a starting point, there has been a huge improvement.
Addressing the girl’s father, Judge Durcan said: “I am warning you that I am putting this case into May 25th. If we don’t have 100% attendance on that date, then the consequences will be very serious.
If there is not 100% attendance at school, you are going to jail.
Mr Hassett said: “The word is out that you have a strong interest in these cases and that you deal with it in a certain way."
In reply, Judge Durcan said: "It would be no harm that we make some examples in these cases as the impression may go out there that this is purely warning with no action.”
The CFA is also prosecuting the father in relation to two of his other children.
Mr O’Donovan said that one boy has missed no school days since the last day in court while a daughter has missed one out of nine.
