Jailed MP Mike Amesbury urged to quit Commons
The former Labour MP, who has been sitting as an Independent, was jailed for 10 weeks for punching a man during a row in a street.
Disgraced MP Mike Amesbury is facing calls to quit the Commons after being jailed for 10 weeks for punching a man after a row in the street.
The former Labour MP, who has been sitting as an Independent since he was suspended by the party after his arrest in October last year, dropped his head and swallowed as the sentence was passed at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Monday, before he was taken to the cells by two dock officers.
The sentence leaves Amesbury at risk of being ousted if his constituents back a petition calling for a by-election, but opposition parties demanded his immediate resignation.
Amesbury pleaded guilty at a hearing in January to assaulting Paul Fellows, 45, in Main Street in Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of October 26.
Jailing Amesbury, deputy senior district judge Tan Ikram said: “In this case an immediate custodial sentence is, in my judgment, necessary, as a punishment and a deterrent.”
The court heard Amesbury, 55, had been drinking before he arrived at a taxi rank, where Mr Fellows approached him to remonstrate about a bridge closure in the town.
Footage showed Amesbury punching Mr Fellows in the head, knocking him to the ground, then following him onto the road and punching him again at least five times.
He was then heard saying: “You won’t threaten your MP again will you, you f****** soft lad?”
Members of the public restrained Amesbury and one was heard to say: “You’ll never be MP after tonight, mate.”
The court heard Mr Fellows had an injury to his head and reported a headache, as well as a superficial graze to his elbow.
When arrested, Amesbury said he had acted in self defence and suggested he felt “threatened” and “intimidated”, the court heard.
Richard Derby, defending Amesbury, said: “I have been in this game many decades, I have seen a lot.
“I have never represented a person with such an exemplary character as I have today.”
He said the “ramifications” would also be felt by Amesbury’s six members of staff.
He added: “His actions were completely out of character. Whatever the sentence you pass, it is not going to be anywhere near the sentence that will stay with Mr Amesbury or on his life, especially professionally.”
Judge Ikram said a pre-sentence report found the offence was committed as a result of “anger” and “loss of emotional control”.
The report recorded that Amesbury was remorseful and assessed him as at a low likelihood of re-offending, but said there was a medium risk of causing serious harm to the public if he did.
The judge said: “I have to say I have seen a single punch to the head cause fatal injury in previous cases I have dealt with, but of course I note the limited injuries in this case.”
He said the attack was unprovoked, adding: “As a member of Parliament you could reasonably expect robust challenge from constituents and members of the public.”
He said Amesbury continued the attack and it “may well not have come to an end” had bystanders not intervened.
The judge said he noted that the pre-sentence report recommended a community order.
He added: “I weigh all the above in my final consideration but am of the view that unprovoked drunken behaviour in the early hours in the streets is too serious to be dealt with by unpaid hours of work, let alone a community order.
“It is only good fortune that the victim falling onto the road suffered only minor injuries and that you were stopped from going further by members of the public.”
An application for bail, pending an appeal against his sentence, was refused by the judge.
Amesbury will be taken to Category B prison HMP Altcourse in Liverpool.
He was also ordered to pay £200 compensation to the victim, costs of £85 and a surcharge of £154.
A further application for bail is expected to be heard at the crown court later this week.
Amesbury was suspended from the Labour Party after the footage emerged which showed him punching Mr Fellows, and he subsequently resigned his membership.
In 2024 Amesbury won Runcorn and Helsby with a majority of 14,696 over Reform UK.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party took swift action following Mike Amesbury’s completely unacceptable actions and he is no longer a Labour MP or a member of the Labour Party. It is right that Mr Amesbury pleaded guilty and has now been sentenced.
“Local residents in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency deserved better and we look forward to them getting the representation they deserve in the future with a new Labour MP.”
Tory co-chairman Nigel Huddleston said: “The residents of Runcorn and Helsby deserve an MP who is able to stand up for them in Parliament. Mike Amesbury should do the right thing and resign.”
Reform UK party chairman Zia Yusuf also called for Amesbury to quit immediately.
He said: “The great people of Runcorn deserve far better than waiting six weeks for a recall petition to take place.”
Amesbury’s sentence leaves him liable to the recall process, which would trigger a by-election if 10% of registered voters in his seat sign a petition calling for it.
Any custodial sentence of less than a year, even it if is suspended, would trigger the recall process, but it will only begin after all appeals have been exhausted.
