Former Labour MP Mike Amesbury has been handed a 10 week prison sentence after he admitted to assaulting a man on the street in Cheshire.
The 55-year-old, who was first elected in 2017, clashed with constituent Paul Fellows while he was out drinking in Frodsham last October.
During a hearing at Chester Magistrates’ Court this morning, Prosecutor Alison Storey said the pair were alone at a taxi rank in the town when the incident took place at around 2am on October 26.
She said in footage of the clash, Amesbury and Mr Fellows are seen talking before Amesbury is heard shouting ‘what?’ a few times before punching Mr Fellows in the face.
Amesbury then followed him onto the road and punched him a further five times while asking: ‘You won’t threaten your f*cking MP again, will you?’. He then walked away, Ms Storey said.
The MP has denies that he had been aggressive or made any threats before the punch. He previously admitted assault in January.
The altercation left Mr Fellows with a lump to his head and a graze to his elbow. It’s not clear if his injuries were a result of him falling on the ground or because of the punch, the prosecutor said.
She added: ‘It is clear there was no aggression from Mr Fellows. He was alone. He didn’t retaliate, even after he was punched to the floor.’
Mitigating, the MP’s lawyer said the assault was ‘extremely regrettable’ and the incident was recorded on CCTV but the preceding conversation was not recorded, which contained something Amesbury took offence to.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram said he would be jailed for 10 weeks.
The MP for Runcorn and Helsby was suspended from the Labour Party soon after media reports on the incident appeared.
He currently sits in Parliament as an independent.
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