Featured Image Credit: Instagram/theradfordfamily
Topics: Disney World, Parenting
Joe Yates
A couple with 22 kids have broken their silence after being hauled into court over a $70,000 Disney vacation.
Britain's largest family, the Radfords, recently discovered that they were being hit with a hefty fine after pulling four of their younger kids out of school to celebrate mom Sue's 50th birthday.
Sue and Noel Radford jetted across the Atlantic earlier this year for a huge family holiday to take their children to Disney World, and they spared no expense - reportedly spending around $70,000, covering flights, hotels and park tickets for all but one of their 22 children and most of their 11 grandkids.
But the celebrations didn’t end quite as planned for the Radfords, and stars of the Channel 5 reality TV show 22 Kids and Counting, as the pair were later taken to court and found guilty of failing to ensure regular school attendance between March 24 and May 1.
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Each parent was fined $88 per child, plus $160 in court costs, leaving them with a $1,024 bill on top of the already pricey holiday - that got more expensive after 24-year-old Millie Radford and her two children missed the flight after it emerged their ESTA certificates had expired.
Noel stayed behind with Millie and her family as they reapplied before flying out the following day - with only Chloe Radford and her daughter Mia missing out on the family's once-in-a-lifetime trip to Florida, as she gave birth to her second child.
Now, after being found guilty of pulling four of their children out of school, Sue and Noel - who support their massive family through the pie company they own - have broken their silence with a fiery statement posted on Instagram.
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It read: "Will also be going into details of the children's secondary school breaching data protection from sharing our children's details on someone else's fine form who doesn't live in our house along with emails sent to the school and registration details we also had another child's details and emails on our form now please tell me if this is ok or not?"
It suggests that the courtroom drama might not be over for the Radfords - who were caught out after sharing a series of photos of their time at Disneyland, including one that showed the family smiling with Donald Duck.
Unbeknown to them at the time, legal action was already in motion.
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A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council defended the decision to pursue the case, stressing the importance of children being in school.
"Ensuring young people receive a good education and have a good start in life is one of our key priorities. Evidence shows that attainment is linked to attendance, so supporting our schools with this issue is important," they said.
"The decision to authorize absence or not rests with the headteacher of the particular school and Penalty Notices are an enforcement option that are available to local authorities, if requested by schools. It is the court that determines whether a fine should be issued.
"The laws on attendance are very clear and there are some legitimate reasons why pupils can't always go to school. We always encourage schools to work closely with parents to reduce unauthorized absences and our aim is to ensure that children and young people attend school and receive a good education."