Benson-Pope denial led to further accusation

David Benson-Pope

David Benson-Pope had just begun his first term in Parliament in 2000 when Act's Rodney Hide received an email that alleged bullying behaviour.

A former student claimed Mr Benson-Pope had viciously caned him when he was a student at Dunedin's Bayfield High School. Mr Hide did not take the allegation too seriously - corporal punishment had been legal at the time.

At the end of last year the Dunedin South MP became Associate Education Minister and his public profile increased.

At the beginning of the year Mr Hide received another email from a former student who also alleged bullying. Mr Hide visited Dunedin to meet the man.

About the same time a former student who had a similar story emailed TV3 political reporter Duncan Garner. TV3 head of news Mark Jennings said Garner met the man, but the man did not want to go on camera so the story was put on hold.

TV3 and Mr Hide are adamant they were working independently of each other.

Mr Hide was also having trouble convincing the former students to speak publicly and decided he would go no further.

Then, last Monday, Mr Benson-Pope made an announcement about cyber-bullying. "I thought that was extraordinary hypocrisy," Mr Hide said.

Another former Bayfield High student also thought so and contacted Mr Hide.

Jennings said TV3 had no idea Mr Hide was planning to question Mr Benson-Pope in Parliament last Thursday, but when he did the station realised there was more to the story and led the 6pm news bulletin with it.

After Mr Benson-Pope strongly refuted the allegations TV3 renewed its efforts to persuade the former students to go on camera.

Former student Phil Weaver also contacted Mr Hide to say Mr Benson-Pope had jammed a tennis ball in his mouth to shut him up and taped his hands to the table.

Mr Hide said until then he had not spoken to Mr Weaver, but had heard about the incident from other students. Another witness, Aaron Tasker, also spoke out.

Mr Tasker, who attended Bayfield High in the early 1980s, said he spoke publicly only because he had been appalled Mr Benson-Pope had denied the allegations.

"I'm not here to try and destroy the man. Just to say 'you did do these things'."