Council drops school admission fraud case

Harrow Council in northwest London had brought a case of fraud against Mrinal Patel but dropped the action after receiving legal advice that it was unlikely to succeed.

Normally, local authorities just withdraw the offer of a school place when then they find parents have given false information, but Harrow is believed to be the first to have sought a criminal penalty.

Priority for admissions to state-funded schools is generally decided by how near children live to the school.

But pressure to get into popular schools is so great in some areas that some parents move house to be nearer or -- as Harrow contends in the latest case -- even lie about their address.

Patel, 41, had been applying for a place at a local primary school for her 5-year-old son.

She confirmed in a BBC interview she had written on the admissions form that she had lived for 14 years at her mother's address -- in the school's catchment area -- when in fact she had only stayed there for four weeks after leaving her husband.

But she said she had been there at the time of the application and, under stress, mistakenly entered the time her mother had lived there.

She said she had been honest with the council when they called to check where she lived and said she had not done anything wrong.

She said she was relieved the council had abandoned the case, which the BBC said was the first of its kind.