Although I’m restricted in terms of disclosing my involvement with Mark William Doyle of Ashburton, I feel that I have a moral obligation to highlight his criminal past.

In 1994 Doyle received a conviction for theft as a servant for stealing $29,000 from an unnamed company.

Following that, Doyle took up a role with Telecom in 1997 as a sales specialist. In 2001 he became a business development manager for Telecom's Christchurch based Advanced Solutions Business Unit.

Doyle then resigned from Telecom in April 2002 after being told he was under investigation by Telecom’s internal fraud unit.

Following that investigation, and subsequent Police charges, in February 2004 Doyle pleaded guilty to charges of theft as a servant, three counts of using a document fraudulently and three of forgery. Doyle’s total offending came to $357,549 and in March 2004 he was sentenced to serve three years in prison.

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Peter O'Neil, editor of the Ashburton Guardian, hosted a candidate meeting for Ashburton. Held at Ashburton College, around 50 people attended. We were given the opportunity to address them for five minutes then cover a series of questions from the floor.

Here's my opening address: More...