Pupil loses 'purity ring' challenge

Lydia Playfoot, 16, said wearing the ring, which is engraved with a Biblical verse, was a demonstration of her commitment not to have sex before marriage.

She was one of a group of girls who joined a movement started in the US called the Silver Ring Thing and said she started wearing her ring in June 2004. But the Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, banned such rings as contrary to its "no jewellery" school uniform policy.

Lydia, who recently left the school after completing her GCSE examinations, said its stance was "anti-Christian" as it allowed Muslim and Sikh students to wear headscarfs and religious bracelets.

Lydia and her father, Philip Playfoot, argued the ring was "part of her faith and not decorative" like ordinary jewellery.

Family lawyer Paul Diamond said the ban imposed by the head and governors of the maintained non-denominational girls' secondary school violated Lydia's right under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights to freedom of religion and to express her faith. Mr Diamond contended that it was not for the courts to rule "on religious truth" and what were appropriate ways to manifest religious belief.

But, deputy High Court judge Michael Supperstone QC dismissed the family's application for judicial review, saying the school had not violated Lydia's rights or acted unlawfully. The judge stressed that the school had a flexible dress code dating from the early 1990s and did allow pupils to wear items which were "a requirement of their faith".

As well as a Muslim girl, a pupil who was a member of the Plymouth Brethren - a Christian religious group - was allowed to wear a headscarf. But the judge ruled that the purity ring was not "intimately linked" to the belief in chastity before marriage. He said: "The claimant was under no obligation, by reason of her belief, to wear the ring, nor does she suggest that she was so obliged."

He refused the family permission to appeal, although they can still petition the appeal court to hear their case. Lydia's father was ordered to pay £12,000 towards the school's costs in fighting off the family's legal challenge.

Later, headmaster Leon Nettley said the school was "clearly delighted with the outcome of the court hearing", but its success was tinged with regret that it was necessary. He said: "Throughout, we have only ever been trying to uphold a better standard that has established our excellent reputation within the local community, who clearly recognise and appreciate the quality of the educational experience that we provide. Any suggestion that our school is anti-Christian is not correct."