Uffindell

Sam Uffindell says there was "rough and tumble" when he was at King's College but the attack on a student was the most serious incident he was involved in ...

This [attack on the 13-year-old] is the most serious by a long way," he said. "If I thought that Sam was still the same man as he was when he was a 16 year old who committed this act then I don't think there would be a place for him in Parliament, however I see that he is extremely sincere in his regret, in his genuine apology and he has been upfront about what occurred. "It was a rough and tumble environment and I wasn't away from that and sometimes I was on the receiving end of it, it was just how it was. "I wanted to talk with him, I wanted to apologise and see how he felt and just see if I could work with him to get some closure on what was a significant event for both of us." "I was 16 and we raided the dorm of the third formers on the last night of the year and punched the victim a number of times in the arm and body and he was subsequently quite hurt from it and the school rightfully asked me to leave. "I deeply regret, and have since, my involvement in that and the impact it had on the person."

"We would tackle and punch each other around a bit," National MP said of boarding school.

"But then a few months later I sat down to watch the news on the couch with a beer and there he was, running for Parliament," the victim said. "We had a long conversation and I was grateful that he accepted my apology. "It was one of the silliest, stupidest things I've ever done. "Boarding houses in 1999, there was a bit of rough and tumble that went on... He did not know if King's College itself was contacted as part of that process, but stressed that Uffindell had told the party about it. He said he was gutted about the incident, "had taken ownership of it" and had thought about it for years. "That's a party matter. Luxon said he should have been informed earlier. That's their judgment. With the boy, he said he punched him a "bunch of times" in the arms and body. Luxon said Uffindell was now a person of "high integrity" and that a good MP "deserves a second chance". Luxon said it was important that the new MP was fronting up to explain the incident "and he's owning that".

Newshub correspondent Patrick Gower has accused National and MP Sam Uffindell of misleading voters after it was revealed he didn't publicly disclose a ...