Benson-Pope's tears as stress takes toll

David Benson-Pope was last night showing the emotional toll of the bullying allegations against him.

With tears rolling down his cheeks, he said the allegations were serious but that the inquiry launched by Prime Minister Helen Clark was the right procedure.

"I want the matter sorted quickly," the Dunedin South MP said before going to spend time with his children.

Earlier, the principal of the school at the centre of the allegations said present students enjoyed a different environment and culture to that of 20 years ago.

Denis Slowley took the top job at Bayfield High School in 1999 - the year Mr Benson-Pope left. He said the school had a good reputation that should not be tarnished by allegations about Mr Benson-Pope.

"We are light years away from that sort of behaviour, if it ever went on at all," he said. "It would be impossible to get away with it and we would be genuinely outraged if someone tried."

Mr Slowley said the school had been unsettled by the claims made in Parliament, and he was appalled at the behaviour of the MPs involved.

"This is not the Bayfield of the 80s, it's a modern school," he said. He insisted there was no need to name Bayfield.

Board of trustees chairman Jeff Clamp, also a former student, is likely to be dragged into the inquiry. He would not comment yesterday. But Mr Slowley said they were sceptical about the allegations.

Mr Benson-Pope was "a firm but fair teacher" and it was unlikely that such punishments could have been doled out without being talked about.

"We are not saying it didn't happen, we just have not heard of it."