DEFIANT dad Richard Lynch will go to prison rather than send his daughter back to the school where he believes she has picked up head lice 40 times.

Mr Lynch has told education officers that seven-year-old Caidee will not return to Bishop Bilsbarrow Primary, in Manchester, until head lice have been wiped out of the classroom.

Mr Lynch, of Fallowfield, said: "I am prepared to go to prison over this. I am sick to death of having my daughter coming home from school having nits. Her hair has been walking with big lice. She must have had them about 40 times.

"The first time she had nits she was in nursery, and I didn't think it was a problem. But when she went to primary school the nits really started.

Distress

"All she knows is nits, nits, nits and it worries her. It has been going on for two-and-a-half years. It's causing me and my family distress. It's a constant pressure.

"We have had them on the furniture and in clothes.

"The education welfare officer has threatened me with legal proceedings. But it's a health issue. I am protecting my daughter. I am not going to send her back to a school with its current problem."

This year Caidee has attended four out of every five days, with an attendance record of about 79 per cent. Mr Lynch, a musician, says he has had to keep her off on a number of occasions to deal with her head lice.

But head teacher Ms Pat Adams said: "The first time that Mr Lynch informed us of a head lice problem was on April 14, 2003. Caidee has not yet returned to school and the issue has been referred to the education welfare service.

"We take the problem of head lice very seriously, especially when it affects a child's attendance.

Responsibility

"There's not a school in the country that does not have a problem with head lice at some time. It is the parent's responsibility to check their child's hair regularly and to treat as necessary.

"In the past nurses were employed by the authority to check children's hair.

"This is no longer a part of their role and teachers are not permitted to inspect children's hair.

"If we do notice head lice on a child's hair or when we are informed by a responsible parent that their child has head lice, letters are sent out to all families informing them and advising them of the necessary action.

"Parents are also advised to seek further assistance from their GP or school nurse if the problem persists.

"Parents must realise that the whole family and anybody else who has been in recent contact with the child needs to be treated."

A spokesman for the city's education department said: "An education welfare officer visited Mr Lynch at the request of the school to discuss his daughter's attendance and to advise him of his parental responsibility to ensure that she attends regularly and of the potential consequences for him if she does not.

"The issue of head lice is essentially a health matter and we would expect parents whose children suffer repeated infection to seek further guidance themselves from health experts to ensure the problem is sorted out as quickly as possible - both for the sake of the child's own comfort and well-being and to avoid any unnecessary disruption to their child's education."

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