School governor let daughter truant from school for holiday in Spain Captions included: "Down in the pool' and "taking golf lessons." When he returned to the UK Mr Lawton and his wife Emma, 33, a keen horsewoman, were issued with fixed penalty notices of £60 each by the local education authority under school anti-truanting laws. When they failed to pay up, the couple were ordered before magistrates in Macclesfield. Both admitted a charge of failing to ensure a child of compulsory school age attended school regularly. The couple were each ordered to pay the fine plus £70 costs. Mr Lawton now faces a disciplinary investigation at the school where he helps promote policy on truanting pupils. Speaking at their family home Mrs Lawton said the holiday had been their first since the couple's honeymoon in Egypt and the children had never been abroad before. She said: "I think they are making a mountain out of a molehill. They are setting an example of him because he is a governor. We only brought her out for two weeks. I don't want to say anymore - you should speak to my husband. But one angry parent said: "Mr Lawton is an absolute disgrace and is not worthy of his position as governor. Parents get constantly bleated at about taking their kids out of school to go on holidays - and he of all people should know all about that. Even though we are left virtually broke due to the hike in holiday prices during non-term time, most of us toe the line because we don't want to get into any trouble. But this fellow has thrown the rule book out of the window. He should be setting the example to us and the children - not jetting off to Spain and trotting out all the usual excuses under the sun. What he's done has made a mockery of the school. Cheshire East Council, said the unnamed girl was absent without proper authority over 11 morning and 11 afternoon sessions between July 9 and 22 last year. In mitigation Mr Lawton, who defended himself, told JPs: "I am a keen and conscientious parent. I am passionate about education and I drum it into my children every day. I was brought up in foster homes and had no education so to me school is important - hence my position as a governor. But this was an extraordinary situation. As a farmer and agricultural contractor the summer is our busiest period and we cannot possibly go away. We went to see my foster father who has cancer and whose health is only expected to deteriorate over time. We could ill afford to go, but my daughter is his goddaughter and he wanted to see her. The best time to take the holiday was at the end of term. I approached the school but I didn't fill in the paperwork. I disputed the fine with the council and was told it would look into it. Passing sentence David Coulston, chair of the bench, said: "As a governor, you really should have known better of the protocols of the school." Richard Hedge, headmaster at Macclesfield Academy, said: "The school fully supports national policy on attendance. Our success in achieving some of England's most rapidly rising standards over the seven terms since we opened has been based, in part, on improving the attendance of students at school. Permission to be absent from the Academy is granted only in exceptional circumstances. These do not normally include family holidays which, if taken in term time, are almost always regarded as unauthorised absences. In cases where a holiday involves ten or more school sessions - ie five or more days - of unauthorised absence, we routinely request the Education Welfare Service at Cheshire East Council to issue a fixed penalty notice. We do this without fear or favour and would not make special allowance for a governor or for anybody else. A total of 11 notices were issued to parents of students at the Academy in the 2012-13 school year. George Wilson, chairman of governors, said: "Paul joined the governing body last year and has worked hard on behalf of the Academy, particularly in the Gawsworth community. We have a scheduled meeting early next month and, at that meeting, we will ask Mr Lawton for his account of the circumstances that led to his appearance in court. We will consider carefully what he has to say and then decide, what, if any, action needs to be taken.