MIKE AMESBURY JAILED

Labour's Mike Amesbury has been jailed for ten weeks after pleading guilty to attacking constituent Paul Fellows back in October last year.  The shocking attack, in which the MP repeatedly punched the 45-year-old even after he'd been knocked to the ground, was caught on CCTV.  Amesbury pleaded guilty to the assault at a previous hearing last month.

Wearing a dark suit and red tie, the MP returned to Chester Magistrates' Court on Monday to hear his fate.  The court heard that Mr Amesbury had knocked his victim to the ground with a single punch to the face.  He then continued the assault as Mr Fellows lay in the road, punching him again 'at least five times'.  Mr Fellows sought medical attention after the assault and was left with a lump on his head and an injured elbow, although it is not clear if these were from Amesbury's fists or when he landed on the tarmac.

The prosecutor told the court that the MP had claimed he had acted in 'self defence' during a police interview, but that 'it was clear there was no aggression from Mr Fellows'.  Following the assault,  which was broken up by several members of the public, Amesbury returned to his victim as he lay injured in the road.  The MP repeatedly pointed his finger in an aggressive manner and told his victim that he would not 'threaten' him again.  No evidence of Mr Fellows having threatened Mr Amesbury was presented in court.

WATCH:  "You won't threaten me again"

The magistrate told the court that such an assault could carry a custodial sentence of 'up to 16 weeks', but given the 'limited injuries' in the case and Amesbury being at a 'lower risk' of reoffending, the sentence handed down was ten weeks.  The MP was also ordered to pay Mr Fellows' costs.  He stood in silence as the verdict was delivered, before being led from the dock and into custody.  A bail request was refused.

Amesbury had been serving as an independent MP following his suspension from Labour and his political career is now almost certainly over.  He will serve his sentence at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool and is likely to be released in around four weeks.

The Manchester-born MP was elected for the Cheshire constituency of Runcorn and Helsby last year.  The seat was previously known as Weaver Vale, which Amesbury had represented since 2017.  The custodial sentence handed down to the 55-year-old means that a recall petition can now be triggered.  Just ten per cent of his constituents are required to sign the petition in order to sack him and trigger a by-election.  The recall process can be avoided if the MP opts to resign, something that Reform chair Zia Yusuf has today demanded of Amesbury.

Amesbury's majority in Runcorn and Helsby is currently 14,696, up from the wafer thin 562 majority he obtained in the previous seat back in 2019.  Second placed Reform will be looking to add to their tally of five MPs by winning the seat from Labour, should the recall be successful.

Runcorn and Helsby 2024 General Election

Mike Amesbury (Lab) 22,358 (52.9%)

Jason Moorcroft (Ref) 7,662 (18.1%)

Jade Marsden (Con) 6,756 (16.0%)

Chris Copeman (Grn) 2,715 (6.4%)

Chris Rowe (LDm) 2,149 (5.1%)

Danny Clarke (Lib) 479 (1.1%)

Paul Murphy (SDP) 116 (0.3%)