Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

College rule on students' hair changes after court challenge

By Sam Hurley
Hawkes Bay Today·
3 Jan, 2015 09:58 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Hawke's Bay was a witness to some of New Zealand's highest-profile crimes and trials during 2014. Court reporter Sam Hurley looks at the year's top 10 cases.

An argument about disobedience, school rules, human rights and hair became one of the most discussed and dissected cases to hit the New Zealand courts in 2014.

St John's College student Lucan Battison became a household name last year after he won a High Court battle against his school on June 27.

Justice David Collins' ruling found the decision by St John's principal Paul Melloy and the college's board of trustees to suspend Lucan from school was not only unreasonable but also unlawful.

Tensions first arose when Mr Melloy, who started in his role as principal earlier in the year, attended a 1st XV game and noticed several players in the team had untidy and long hair.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After meeting the principal Lucan was warned that if he defied the school's rules he could be suspended. He refused to cut his hair, which was tied into a knot or ponytail at the back of his head.

Mr Melloy's decision to suspend Lucan was based on a "continual disobedience [that] ... was a harmful or dangerous example to other students".

The national debate began when Lucan's father, Troy Battison, made an application for a judicial review of the decision to suspend Lucan.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The rules at the time stated that students had to have hair that was short, tidy, of natural colour and had to be off the collar and out of the eyes. They also said that plaits, dreads and mohawks were not acceptable.

Public debate exploded on to television, radio and newspapers as every student, teacher, parent, academic and lawyer shared their views on the controversial and unprecedented case.

Further heat came after Hawke's Bay Today revealed Lucan had been barred from playing rugby for the 1st XV and banned from the school ball, despite a court ruling stating his school was to take no further disciplinary action pending the decision of the High Court.

Lucan was eventually allowed to return to the footy field and attend the annual ball.

Following the judgment the Battisons said they were pleased but, having wanted mediation instead, were disappointed it had gone so far.

They said Lucan had signed up to the rule and his hair, whether in a hair tie or not, was off the collar and out of the eyes but "the new principal shifted the goal posts".

"If people never questioned certain issues, we would be a very backward society today."

Mr Melloy said he was disappointed with the decision, while a St John's committee and board meeting was held on July 22 where it was decided St John's would not appeal the ruling.

The college was also ordered to pay more than $24,159 in court costs to the Battison family after losing the battle

But the story continued and in September a near-unanimous vote saw parents at St John's College support the school's "new hair rule".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After waiting for "things to settle down in the papers" Mr Melloy gave parents an opportunity to vote and "93.84 per cent were in full support for the school and the new hair rule".

The new hair rule reads: "Hair that is short, tidy and of natural colour. Short - means hair has to be 1cm off the collar at the back, not further than half way down the ear at the side and off the eyebrows at the front. Sideburns must not extend beyond the ear lobe. Tidy - means hair has to be combed and groomed. Extremes, including plaits, dreads and mohawks are not acceptable. Hair cannot be tied back in any manner."

However, Battison family lawyer Jol Bates discovered several "problems" after reading the new rule and said the school had not fulfilled the High Court judgment.

He said "it wouldn't surprise me" to find the new hair rule challenged by a student or parent in a courtroom.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Some roads remained blocked.

17 Jul 06:02 AM
'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues
Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

17 Jul 04:06 AM
Premium
Premium
Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP