Council prosecuted mum of boy who missed school because he was afraid of being groomed by gangsters

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

 A council has been criticised after prosecuting the mum of a boy who missed school because he was scared of being groomed by gangsters.

Her son, known as Mr Y, failed to attend a school where Lambeth council enrolled him in February 2018 as he was afraid of bumping into gang members on his daily commute.

He had previously gone missing from home for a month before being found 100 miles away following a police raid.

Solicitors said they believed Mr Y was a victim of human trafficking. His mum believed he was involved in county lines drug activities.

Mr Y was placed at the school after he stopped attending a previous one because he was scared of some students there who he claimed were gang members.

But the new school was more than five miles from his home and he had to travel across three boroughs on public transport to reach it.

His mum, known only as Miss X, begged Lambeth to provide her son with transport to school but the local authority refused.

Mr Y rarely turned up at the school before stopping attending altogether by summer 2018.

When he failed to return when the autumn school term started, a Lambeth official told Miss X the council planned to take her to court for her son’s lack of attendance.

The boy’s mum was summoned to a meeting by the council, where she explained her son had previously been groomed by gangs.

Despite this the council decided to go ahead with prosecuting her.

A court hearing was listed for February 2019 but then delayed until April to allow Miss X to collect evidence that her son had been trafficked.

The case was subsequently dropped after the Youth Offending Service found an alternative education placement for Mr Y.

The Ombudsman – which regulates local authorities – criticised Lambeth for failing to clearly explain why it decided to prosecute Miss X.

It ordered the council to pay her £250 for the distress its decision caused her.

A Lambeth council spokesman said: “The council has fully accepted the LGO’s ruling in this case and we will of course carry out all the actions set out by the Ombudsman to remedy the injustice experienced by this resident.

“We have acknowledged the failings in the service provided to Miss X, and we apologise for the distress it caused.

“In line with the Ombudsman’s findings, we have agreed to pay her compensation, and also to provide training to ensure that staff understand the need to properly record how they have considered the individual circumstances and the reasons for their decisions to prosecute parents.”

Pictured top: Lambeth Town Hall (Lambeth Town Hall Reading Tom at https://flickr.com/photos/16801915@N06/8715334040 (archive))