The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that an application over the long-running so-called “gay cake” case is inadmissible as arguments relating to the Convention were not raised or adjudicated on by the domestic courts.

The court has said that the decision is final.

In 2018, the UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Northern Ireland gay rights activist Gareth Lee was not discriminated against when the Christian owners of a Belfast bakery refused to make him a cake iced with the slogan “Support Gay Marriage”.

Asher’s said the refusal had nothing to do with Lee’s sexual orientation, and everything to do with the political nature of the message. They would have refused to the same cake order for anyone irrespective of their sexual orientation, and would happily have fulfilled an order for Mr Lee had it not had a political message that contravened their deeply help religious beliefs about the nature of marriage.