UK School Refuses To Let 9-Year-Old Attend Mother's Wedding

A UK school has denied a mother's request to let her 9-year-old son have three days off to attend her upcoming wedding, the BBC reported.

Claire Whitelegg, of Cornwall County, sent a request to the Clive Church of England School in Shropshire County to have her son, Riley Bryant, attend her wedding on Tuesday. But the school denied Whitelegg's request, saying they only excuse absences in "exceptional circumstances," according to the BBC.

Now the bride-to-be must decide between having her son miss her big day or defying school rules and risk being sent to jail.

"It's absolutely bonkers that the school have banned my son from attending my wedding," Whitelegg, who is to marry Andy McLeary in her hometown of Newquay, said according to The Telegraph.

"The fact is that if I had went along with the school's ruling then there would be no wedding because I can't leave a nine-year-old home alone for three days," said Whitelegg, 30.

Parents in England are allowed to place requests for time off for holidays, but they are granted solely at the discretion of the school's head, according to the BBC. But as of last September, schools are no longer able to grant any leave of absence unless they fall under "special circumstances."

Parents also face a three-month jail sentence and a 2,500 pound, $4,300, fine if their kids fail to attend school.

The school claims it only received the mother's request seven days before the wedding and that it would have been approved had Whitelegg provided more than just a brief note about a "mother's wedding," The Telegraph reported.

"If she had come into school to... explain it was her own wedding and why it had to be on this particular date, such as her working patterns, then it would have been quite likely that we would have agreed," head teacher Mary Lucas told the BBC.

But Whitelegg's wedding is Tuesday and her request is still denied. The mother said Bryant is attending her wedding and that she is prepared to challenge the fine if local authorities decide to pursue the case.

"If it means going to prison then so be it," Whitelegg said according to The Telegraph.