SUSPENDED Labour MP Mike Amesbury has been sentenced to 10 weeks in prison for assaulting a man in his constituency last year.
The Runcorn and Helsby MP was caught on video punching 45-year-old Paul Fellows, a constituent, to the ground in October.
He was sentenced today at Chester Magistrates' Court for assault by beating, after pleading guilty last month and was sentenced on Monday.
He now faces the threat of losing his seat if more than 10% of his constituents back a recall petition.
Amesbury, who has been in Parliament since 2017, was suspended by Labour shortly after the video of the assault emerged.
He was seen shouting at the victim: "You won't threaten the MP ever again, will you?"
After pleading guilty to the attack, Amesbury said it was "highly regrettable" and that he was "sincerely sorry" to Fellows.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram asked the prosecution to relate the facts of the case in "more detail than normal".
The court heard that Amesbury and Fellows arrived at a taxi rank in Frodsham, Cheshire at around the same time.
A video of the incident shows Amesbury and Fellows engaged for a long time, with the MP heard to ask "what" a number of times before knocking his constituent to the ground.
This footage shows MP Mike Amesbury punching a man in the street. He has been suspended by the Labour Party following the incident. pic.twitter.com/mOcO87qwa3
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 27, 2024
Fellows did not get up and Amesbury punched him again at least five times, the court was told.
Amesbury claimed to have been acting in self defence in a a police interview after the attack and his defence lawyer on Monday argued there had been an altercation prior in which Fellows said something to offend the MP.
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The Times previously reported the row had centred around Amesbury's support for stripping pensioners of their winter fuel allowance and the temporary closure of a local bridge.
Medics at an urgent care centre attended to Fellows after the assault and he suffered soft tissue injury to his left elbow and was left with a lump on his head.
Sentencing, Ikram said: "You continued to attack when he was on the ground and it may have continued further had a bystander not intervened.
"You continued to rant, your position ought to be as a role model to others."
