Former Labour MP Mike Amesbury has been jailed for 10 weeks after he admitted punching a man to the ground in his Cheshire constituency.
Amesbury, 55, who represents Runcorn and Helsby as an independent MP, pleaded guilty to assaulting 45-year-old Paul Fellows after video footage emerged showing the confrontation.
He was suspended from the Labour Party after the incident in Frodsham, Cheshire, which happened in the early hours of 26 October.
Sitting at Chester Magistrates’ Court, Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram said a pre-sentence report showed Amesbury’s actions were the result of a “anger and loss of emotional control”.
He 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 Mr Amesbury, continued to punch Mr Fellows when he was on the ground and continued to shout at Mr Fellows. I consider this more culpable,” the magistrate 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,” the magistrate told the MP.
‘Too serious’
The magistrate said the immediate custodial sentence was “necessary both as a punishment and a deterrent”.
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”.
Mr Ikram said he had also considered how the MP was “unlikely to re-offend”.
But he said: “You were only stopped from going further by members of the public.”
The MP was also ordered to pay the victim’s costs and was then escorted from the dock by ushers.
