.jpg)
Despite his violent past, which should have automatically disqualified him from a position within a political party, Sam Uffindell was accepted as a candidate for the National Party with the proviso that he phone one of his victims to make an insincere apology.
National initially said that they knew about the serious aggravated assault when Uffindell applied to be a candidate. However their leadership “team” is now saying they only learned of the dormitory attack yesterday.
Uffindell is still refusing to say whether National Party leader Christopher Luxon knew. He also claims to not remember if he used a bed leg in the violent assault that left his victim with serious injuries.
Yesterday, Stuff reported:
National MP Sam Uffindell 'asked to leave' prestigious King’s College after violent nighttime attack on younger boy
The man said the original incident happened on the last night of term in 1999, inside one of the King’s College boarding houses.
He had been in bed in his dorm room after lights out, when four older boys came in and jumped on him and began beating him, he said. He thought the boys had been using wooden bed legs unscrewed from their dorm.
It seems rather incongruous that National holds itself up as the party of law and order while continuously selecting candidates that aren’t suitable because of their unlawfulness. The National Party must ensure that Uffindell resigns and then explain why they have such a low bar for their selection process?
It should go without saying that Sam Uffindell needs to leave politics. He has after all brought the House of Representatives into disrepute. But in my opinion the Police should also investigate the fact that a 13-year-old boy was badly beaten by multiple assailants using offensive weapons. Such crimes should not go unpunished just because one of the perpetrators is now in a position of power.
