Reform MP James McMurdock was jailed for repeatedly kicking girlfriend, court records show

22 November 2024, 10:38 | Updated: 22 November 2024, 15:05

A Reform MP was jailed 18 years ago for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend, newly released court records have revealed.

James McMurdock, 38, the new MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, was convicted of assaulting his then girlfriend in 2006 while drunk outside a nightclub.

He spent 21 days in a young offenders' institution after admitting to the attack.

Before he was elected as an MP, the investment banker had not publicly disclosed the conviction and when it emerged in July he had been jailed for attacking his girlfriend when he was 19 years old, he downplayed the incident as a "teenage indiscretion".

But further details of what happened during the incident have now emerged after The Times applied to the court for information from the official record.

It says he received the custodial sentence for "kicking" the victim "around four times", The Times reports.

In the magistrate's sentencing remarks, it says he was given 21 days in a young offenders' institution and "the sentence was not suspended in light of serious nature of the offence".

It said the offence "requires immediate punishment" and a pre-sentence report indicated a "lack of willingness to comply".

The report said there was "limited credit for guilty plea, plea entered late, would have been 28 days".

MPs do not have to disclose previous convictions to the public when standing, with only people in prison at the time of the election for a sentence of more than a year barred.

McMurdock's victim's mother brought the incident to light a week after his election, saying he "left marks on her body" and "it took two security guards to pull him off her".

When the allegations were revealed, McMurdock said the pair had argued and he had pushed her.

A Reform UK spokesperson at the time said they were aware of his conviction and jail sentence.

But they said the MP "absolutely rejects allegations that he either kicked, stamped or punched the victim, though he accepts that he pushed her, she fell and was injured".

McMurdock told Sky News at the time: "While I absolutely deny the horrific details in this tale, there is one truth in it that I cannot, nor will not deny or hide from.

"A generous person might call it a teenage indiscretion but I do not expect everyone to be so kind.

"Nearly 20 years ago, at 19 years of age, at the end of a night out together, we argued and I pushed her. She fell over and she was hurt. Despite being 38 now and having lived a whole life again I still feel deeply ashamed and apologetic.

"Despite us both being very drunk, I handed myself into the police immediately and admitted my fault. I was charged for what I did, not for what has been claimed, and I faced the consequences then and paid for my action in full."

He said the "shame" of that night "led me to turn my life around" and he now has a wife and four children, and is expecting a fifth in February.

"I am surrounded by women on both sides of our family who love me and are proud of the man I am today," he said.

"This is the biggest regret of my life and I wish I could go back in time and fix things."

The MP said he hopes people believe him when he says he knows "how growth and redemption feels in ways that many others cannot".

And he said it is only by being honest about "my failings" that he has been able to move on, and he hopes his victim also can.

"To this day I feel deeply sorry for the hurt I caused that cold, drunken evening 20 years ago," he added.

Sky News has contacted Reform UK, McMurdock and Essex Police for comment.

(c) Sky News 2024: Reform MP James McMurdock was jailed for repeatedly kicking girlfriend, court records show