We were treated like monsters for taking our child out of school for 16 days. I stood in the same dock as murderers, rapists and child abusers... things must change: LAURA GRAY

Murderers, rapists and child abusers had stood in the same dock in King's Lynn Magistrates' Court in Norfolk where my partner, Philip, and I were found guilty. Crying inconsolably, my entire body shook as the magistrate delivered his verdict. A respectable mother of three – who is campaigning for the local council to reduce the speed limit around my son's primary school from 30mph to 20mph – I never thought I would be the kind of person to end up with a criminal record.

Our crime? Taking our young son out of school for three precious family trips abroad that would have been impossible in the school holidays – something many parents will contemplate at one time or another. We were punished with £800 in fines and a formal notice of prosecution on our records – as well as a £2,500 solicitor's bill.

Yet the hardest blow was being treated as if we were terrible parents, hearing the attendance officer from the Local Education Authority (LEA) tell the court we had 'failed' our now eight-year-old son Leo by 'not providing him with regular education'.

In fact, his attendance that school year was 91 per cent. He missed 16 days out of the entire year. Yet the guilt that I'd let my gorgeous son down was overwhelming. Before you assume Phil and I are looking for pity, we're not. We took Leo out of school accepting we would be fined. But we were unaware that his having three 'unauthorised absences' in one year could see us prosecuted.

I'm sharing our experience to highlight that decent, hard-working, loving parents like Phil and me deserve transparency from schools and councils when it comes to holidays. And that changes are needed to the holiday opportunities available to parents to make it fair.

Laura and Philip with their children Leo, Phoebe and Luna on a family holiday. It won't come as news for the millions of parents up and down the country battling their way through half-term that it costs substantially more to go away during school holidays.

Everyone from hotels to airlines put up their prices by as much as triple the minute term ends, severely limiting your options if you want a family holiday that doesn't break the bank. Not to mention locations that would be peaceful in January can become rammed in July.

However, during the academic year we took Leo out of school our main consideration wasn't money, but work commitments. Phil and I are both self-employed (I'm a make-up artist and he owns a wholesale company). Our busy periods coincide with school holidays, meaning that – like thousands of working parents who struggle to get time off – we can't just drop everything to go away.

Phil employs many women and gives priority to those with children when it comes to time off during school breaks, making it even harder to take time off himself. If we'd been able to travel during school holidays, we would have done so, but in that year it wasn't practical.

Phil and I take our roles as responsible parents to Leo and his two sisters, Phoebe, six, and Luna, three, extremely seriously. We only ever act in their best interests – and that applies to both their attendance at primary school, where they are thriving, and providing them with opportunities to go on holiday.

Our 'criminal activity' began in late September 2022 when we took Leo – then six and in Year One – out of school for a holiday in Croatia after being invited there by Phil's parents. Phoebe was four and in reception – the rules don't apply to children under five – while Luna was a baby. Leo missed five days of school. Being so young, we felt the benefits of him spending time with grandparents he'd barely seen during the pandemic would outweigh anything he'd have been doing at school.

Department for Education figures show councils handed out 443,322 fines for unauthorised absences in the 2023-24 school year and 91 per cent of these were for holidays. That's not to say we took the decision lightly. I completed the required form, wrote to the headteacher and was honest about our reasons. I know many parents just lie and pretend their children are ill to avoid a fine.

As expected, the headteacher advised us the absence would be unauthorised and we would be fined. At the time, the penalty for unauthorised absences was £60 per parent per school-age child, though that rose to £80 last August, whether that's a day out of school or two weeks.

Department for Education figures show councils handed out 443,322 fines for unauthorised absences in the 2023-24 school year, an increase of 22 per cent on the previous year. And 91 per cent of these were for holidays. But the fines were worth it as our Croatian adventure was wonderful. I'll never forget all the looks of wonder on Leo's little face.

We took Leo out of school for another six days when Phil's sister invited us to join her family in Dubai during the October half-term. To fit with work commitments, we needed to fly before schools broke up. Again, we took our £120 fine on the chin and paid promptly.