Principal apologises to bullying survivor

‘‘The staff didn’t monitor what was happening; they just turned a blind eye.’’

Wesley College leadership has apologised to a survivor of rampant abuse at its boarding school.

In a statement, principal Dr Brian Evans said bullying had no place at the historic college at Paerata, near Pukekohe, and apologised directly to William Wilson, who shared his story to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care this week.

Wilson, aged 13 at the time, was beaten so severely by other students in 1991 that he missed two months of school. He remains traumatised.

‘‘To hear William describe what had happened to him was horrifying,’’ Evans said. ‘‘I would like to add my heartfelt apologies and tell William that we are grateful to him for coming forward.’’

Evans said he and board of trustees chairman David McGeorge were leading change at the school, even as a ‘‘small minority’’ of current students defend those old practices, known as the ‘‘Wesley Way’’.

‘‘To put it bluntly, the behavioural management style that has been deeply woven into the college’s past is not acceptable . . . today,’’ Evans said.

When Wilson was 13, he got to meet the All Blacks. But instead of handshakes, he was carried to his school sick bay with cracked ribs.

Wilson, now in his 40s, had been subjected to what was then a tradition: the ‘‘Island Respect hiding’’.

Speaking to the inquiry this week, he held back tears describing the brutality he faced as staff looked away. Organised by a prefect, six boys took turns beating him to the ground. ‘‘I almost died,’’ he said.

William Wilson

That evening, Wesley College was hosting the All Blacks, and Wilson was meant to be helping the staff. ‘‘The prefects tried to carry me out past them both as if nothing was happening,’’ he said.

It didn’t work. An All Black spotted them, the prefects bolted, and he was gingerly carried to the sick bay.

‘‘The All Blacks saw all my injuries ... The people at the sick bay told [the team] that they had called an ambulance, and it was on its way. But they hadn’t called for one. As soon as they left, [the head prefect] came to the sick bay and took the signed shirt that the All Blacks signed for me. He threatened that I would get the bash again if I told anyone.’’

Beatings were infamous among students of the largely Pasifika school.

‘‘The staff didn’t monitor what was happening; they just turned a blind eye. The school staff gave the prefects the powers they had, and they encouraged this abuse,’’ he said.

He attended Wesley for two years, from 1991 till 1992. In that time, students cracked his ribs, crushed his finger in a door, gave him frequent nose bleeds and ‘‘cauliflower ear’’, and gave him severe panic attacks.

The Pacific Investigation public hearing into abuse in care continues until July 30.