FIVE more parents -- all of whom failed to make an appearance before magistrates -- have been fined in their absence over the non-attendance of their children in school.

Fines and costs totalling more than £1,000 were handed out by the Bury bench after the cases were brought by the council.

Sharon Launders of Wilton Gardens, Radcliffe, was fined £200 with £100 costs. The court was told that her eldest child, a pupil at Coney Green High, Radcliffe, had attended on only 77 out of a possible 120 occasions. A second, younger child, who attends Radcliffe Hall CE Methodist Primary, had a similar poor record with only 67 attendances.

Karen Sinclair of Avondale Avenue, Bury, was fined £100 with £100 costs. Her child, a pupil at Castlebrook High, Bury, had, over a two month period, been missing on every single occasion out of a possible 46.

Elizabeth Taylor of Calder Crescent, Whitefield, was fined £200 with £100 costs after the magistrates heard that she had been successfully prosecuted for an identical matter in September of last year. The latest court appearance followed the failure of her child, a pupil at Castlebrook High, to attend on any of 100 possible occasions.

Marie Bulger of South Bank Road, Bury, whose child attends Derby High in Bury, was fined £100 with £100 costs. The youngster had only been in class on 48 out of a possible 88 occasions.

Finally, there was a £100 fine and £50 costs for Tracey O'Reardon of Fairfield Drive, Bury. She was brought before the court over her two children, both pupils at Derby High. One had attended on just 31 out of a possible 108, while the other had an even worse record, just 16 attendances out of 108.