David Bernard: Severely affected by bullying

Mr McConnell said he had not been bullied at school but he was aware of others who had.

He said: "The fact that none of us seemed to do very much about it when it was happening to them (other pupils) is something to be very much ashamed of.

"I don't mind admitting that now, 23 years on, and I hope that this generation of senior school pupils is a bit more responsible than mine was."

Mr McConnell was answering pupils' questions during the Anti-Bullying Network's National Anti-Bullying Conference for School Pupils in Dundee.

One 14-year-old boy from Edinburgh told the conference that the stress of bullying became so great that he temporarily lost his sight.

David Bernard said: "I took very ill because of the stress of the bullying.

"I actually was partially sighted and lost quite a lot of school time through it.

"I'm paying for that now, having to try really really hard to study for my exams at the moment."