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Suspended Labour MP pleads guilty to assault

Mike Amesbury appears at Chester magistrates’ court accused of attacking Paul Fellows last year

Daily Telegraph 16/01/25

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Mike Amesbury, the suspended Labour MP, has pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in the street.



The Runcorn and Helsby MP appeared at Chester magistrates’ court on Thursday accused of attacking 45-year-old Paul Fellows in Main Street in Frodsham, Cheshire, which was reported to officers at 2.48am on Oct 26 last year.

Mr Amesbury was suspended from the Labour Party after footage emerged that appeared to show him punching a man.

He now sits in Parliament as an Independent.

The 55-year-old was summonsed to court to face a charge of section 39 assault after a file was passed to prosecutors on Oct 29.

Alison Storey, prosecuting, told the court that at about 2am on Oct 26 last year Mr Fellows was in Frodsham town centre and went to a taxi rank.

He was alone and had been drinking, she said.

Ms Storey said: “Mr Amesbury arrived at the same taxi rank. He too was alone and he too had been drinking.”

The court heard that Mr Fellows recognised Mr Amesbury and approached him to remonstrate about a bridge closure in the town.

‘A persistent assault’

She said CCTV showed engagement between them over a period of several minutes, but no aggression or raised voices.

She said: “At one point Mr Fellows started to walk away but was re-engaged by Mr Amesbury.”

Mr Amesbury was heard to say “what” a few times before shouting it, the court heard.

Ms Storey said Mr Fellows put his hands in his pockets and turned towards the taxi queue, but when he turned back Mr Amesbury punched him to the head, knocking him to the ground.

He followed him onto the road after he fell and started to punch him again, at least five times, she added.

Ms Storey told the court he was then heard saying, “you won’t threaten your MP again will you”.

She said: “There was no evidence on the CCTV footage that the victim was being aggressive or threatening towards Mike Amesbury.

“Nor did the victim retaliate after being punched for the first time, or when he was struck again while on the floor.

“This was a persistent assault which continued while the victim was on the ground and not offering any aggression.

“The CPS will always seek to prosecute violent offences in accordance with our legal test regardless of who the perpetrator is.”

I made a serious mistake’

Mr Amesbury will now face significant pressure to stand down from the Commons in the wake of the guilty verdict.

Doing so would trigger a by-election. However, he would only be disqualified from serving as an MP if he was sentenced to more than one year in prison, meaning that he may not be obliged to quit as an MP.

If Mr Amesbury were to step down, or if he was ousted by his constituents in a recall petition, a by-election would be the first major electoral test of 2025 for both Labour and Reform UK.

Reform beat the Tories and came second at the general election in July.

While Labour won with almost 53 per cent of the vote compared to Reform’s 18 per cent, Nigel Farage’s party would likely benefit from Sir Keir Starmer’s troubled start in government and low turnout at by-elections.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Mr Amesbury said: “Today, I pleaded guilty in connection with a deeply regrettable incident that occurred last October.

“I made a serious mistake and offer my sincere apologies to Mr Fellows as well as his family.

“I don’t intend to make any further comment at this stage, while proceedings are ongoing.

“I will have more to say at the conclusion of the case.”

Within the high culpability category’

On Thursday, Zia Yusuf, the chairman of Reform UK, urged Mr Amesbury to resign and trigger a by-election.

He said: “Today Mike Amesbury has pleaded guilty to assault. The great people of Runcorn deserve far better than this.

“We call on Mike Amesbury to do the honourable thing and resign immediately so a by-election can be held.”

District Judge Tanveer Ikram said: “This case is within the high culpability category. I accept that the injury was not serious, the sentencing guideline suggests a sentence starting point of a high-level community order or a range up to a prison sentence.

“I have already made mention of the fact whilst there was a single punch to the face, the victim ended up on the floor and he was further attacked again on the floor. That seems to me an additional aggravating factor.

“I hear all said on the defendant’s behalf and I will no doubt hear that again once I have read what the pre-sentence report suggests as workable options in terms of the range of sentence available to the court.”

He adjourned the case to Feb 24 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

He told Mr Amesbury: “I am leaving all options open at this stage.”


‘Rightly suspended by the Labour Party

A Labour Party spokesman said: “It is right that Mike Amesbury has taken responsibility for his unacceptable actions.

“He was rightly suspended by the Labour Party following the announcement of the police investigation. We cannot comment further whilst legal proceedings are still ongoing.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman declined to comment on whether Mike Amesbury should now resign as an MP after pleading guilty to assaulting a man.

When pressed if the Prime Minister believed any MP should remain in Parliament after punching someone, he said: “You have got the Prime Minister’s words at the time, when he said we moved very swiftly to suspend him as a Member of Parliament.”

The spokesman added: “This is a matter for the court, and a matter for the parliamentary [Labour] party. Beyond that, I will refer you to the Labour Party.”



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