Blitz Bureau
BRITISH politician Mike Amesbury has been jailed for 10 weeks for punching a man in the street in his constituency last year.
The former Labour MP, who represents Runcorn and Helsby as an independent, pleaded guilty to assaulting 45-year-old Paul Fellows after video footage emerged showing the confrontation. He had his Labour whip removed after the incident in Frodsham, Cheshire.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram said the jail sentence was “necessary as a punishment and a deterrent”. “You continued to attack when he was on the ground and it may have continued further had a bystander not intervened,” Ikram told Amesbury.
Addressing the MP before handing down the jail term, the magistrate said, “I have to say that I have seen a single punch to the head cause fatal injuries, but note the limited injuries in this case.
“I note that you, Amesbury, continued to punch Fellows when he was on the ground and continued to shout at Fellows. I consider this more culpable. “You continued to rant, your position ought to be as a role model to others.”
He said he accepted the incident was one incident “in an otherwise unblemished career”. “You have spent your life in public service and served in high office”, he told Amesbury.
But the magistrate said he was of “the view that unprovoked drunken behaviour is too serious to be dealt with unpaid work”.
