'I am relieved it is over'

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Edited extracts from Tony Veitch's statement read outside court.

You have no idea how relieved I am that this is over.

Until now, because of severe legal constraints and the agreement I signed, I've been unable to say anything to anybody, let alone defend myself. From today, that will stop ...

I never shied away from what happened on that night over three years ago.

I paid Kristin's medical costs. I was so concerned about what had happened and it was so out of character that I undertook counselling to help me understand how I could be driven to such a place. That is not me and it will never be me again. I wish I had handled things differently that night.

I told my family, I told my wife, I told my close friends exactly what had happened on January 29, 2006. They stood by me then and they stand by me now, and for that I am eternally grateful.

When it was necessary, I also told my employers at TVNZ and, I reiterate, I told them the full and utter truth.

Today is a result of some long, hard thinking on my part and my family's part and my wife's part. We had two choices, our day in court, which I can honestly say I desperately wanted but I knew would be at least two years away two years to wait for a day in court. Or we could end this now, save everyone more pain, allow my wife and our family to get back to a normal life. This has not been normal over the past nine months for anybody. Everybody has suffered.

I am grateful sense has prevailed and the other charges have been dropped. As I said months ago, when I walked out of here, I was stunned those charges had even been laid.

There is one final point I would like to make: much has been written and said over the past nine months which defies belief ... From today we will begin legal action against [certain media organisations] in the hope that they realise that it is one thing to condemn a person by the media, it is another to slander them.

Thank you to all of those people who have helped me to get through this. Thank you to my family, who I know are all here, have been simply incredible.

The people out there in New Zealand, you guys have just been incredible.

But most of all, thank you to my wife, Zoe ... I quite simply say, I chose a goody, and I could not have survived this without her. So, to Zoe, I say thank you. To all of you, I say thank you and I'm glad it is over.

- © Fairfax NZ News