Sandys Secondary principal Melvyn Bassett yesterday confirmed he will take legal action against a former student who attacked him.

"I feel I have little choice but to pursue this through legal channels,'' Mr.

Bassett told The Royal Gazette .

But he declined to say specifically what form the action would take. He had yet to consult with his lawyer, he said.

He was speaking a day after Sandys Secondary School's board of governors announced that he was free to seek whatever legal redress he wanted against ex-student Kiwon Butterfield.

Mr. Butterfield punched Mr. Bassett -- in front of a room full of parents, teachers, and relatives of Sandys Secondary graduates -- after his name was not called during a graduation ball at Sonesta Beach Hotel June 29.

Mr. Bassett said he and the student's mother, Debbie Butterfield, had agreed Mr. Butterfield would only be allowed to take part in the ceremony if he had his dreadlocks covered.

But Mr. Butterfield, who received his graduation certificate with other graduates at the school earlier that week, showed up at the graduation ceremony with his dreadlocks uncovered.

When his name was not called he marched up on stage, where Mr. Bassett was sitting, demanded to know why his name was not called and punched Mr. Bassett.

After the attack, Mr. Butterfield apologised to his peers and parents for disrupting the evening.

But he has refused to apologise to Mr. Bassett until the principal apologised for "discriminating'' against him.

And his mother, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, has lodged a formal complaint with the Human Rights Commission, claiming her son was discriminated against because of his Rastafarian way of life.

But both Mr. Bassett and chairman of the board of governors Eugene Cox stressed the issue did not centre around Mr. Butterfield's dreadlocks.

"There's never been an issue with him being allowed to express himself with dreadlocks,'' Mr. Bassett said, adding Mr. Butterfield breached rules set out long before the graduation.

"It was absolutely clear. It was discussed well before and it was agreed.'' "We recognise dreadlocks to be a legitimate religious expression,'' Mr. Cox added. "We also give due regard to the `Afro' and other hairstyles which are creative expressions of cultural heritage. And that was the very reason why Kiwon Butterfield and others were able to course through Sandys Secondary, friction free, from the time of their entry up to and including the day of their graduation.'' During rehearsals for the graduation ceremony and prom, he said Mr.

Butterfield told Mr. Bassett that since he had graduated he was not therefore bound by the school's codes.

"If that was his mistaken belief,'' Mr. Cox added, "he had the option not to participate in the prom which unfortunately he did not exercise.'' He stressed the board commended Mr. Bassett's handling of the matter.

And he said: "We want it to be known that he was enforcing rules we as Governors put in place, and consequently we are not prepared to sit idly by and allow anyone to slap around our principal and or members of his staff without prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law.'' CRIME CRM