EAST Thurrock's Reform MP James McMurdock has again found himself in the media spotlight over an incident in his youth when he was jailed for assaulting a woman.

The conviction became news in the national press soon after Mr McMurdock won July's election for the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

He was accused of misleading the public after it emerged he was jailed 18 years ago for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend.

 Mr McMurdock was convicted of assaulting his then girlfriend in 2006 while drunk outside a nightclub and spent 21 days in a young offenders' institution after admitting to the attack.

He had not publicly disclosed the conviction before he was elected as an MP and downplayed the attack as a "teenage indiscretion" when details first emerged after his election. 

There is no requirement for MPs to disclose previous convictions to the public when standing to be their representatives. Only persons imprisoned at the time of the election for a sentence of more than one year are barred from standing.

His previous conviction came to light when the victim's mother accused him of having "left marks on her body" and said that "it took two security guards to pull him off her".

At the time the MP contradicted the mother's account. 

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In a statement, he said that "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".

And he added: "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."

In other comments he played down the severity of the incident, saying: "Despite being 38 now and having lived a whole life again I still feel deeply ashamed of that moment and apologetic.

"Despite us both being very drunk, I handed myself into the police immediately and admitted my fault."

Mr McMurdock repeatedly played down allegations that he had acted violently.

However, among others investigating his actions, The Times newspaper has been digging deep. 

It applied to the courts for information from the official record of his conviction, which has now been released. 

It states that the reason for his custodial sentence was "kicking to victim on around four times".

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The "court register extract" relating to the conviction was provided to The Times after its application, which sets out the magistrate's sentencing remarks about why a custodial sentence was issued.

It says that Mr McMurdock was "detained in a young offenders' institution for 21 days" and that "the sentence was not suspended in light of serious nature of the offence".

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

It added there was "limited credit for guilty plea, plea entered late, would have been 28 days". The reason given for the sentence was: "Kicking to victim on around four times".

Essex Police has refused to provide any documentation about the case under the Freedom of Information act, claiming that to do so would be in breach of the MP's data protection rights and could prejudice the detection of crime. However, that decision is being contested by The Times and a formal complaint has been lodged.