PA MediaMP Mike Amesbury has admitted assault by beating after a video emerged showing him punching a man to the ground in his Cheshire constituency.
Amesbury, who represents Runcorn and Helsby, pleaded guilty to assaulting the 45-year-old Paul Fellows at Chester Magistrates’ Court.
He had been suspended from the Labour Party after the footage appeared of the fracas, which occurred in Frodsham, Cheshire, at 02:45 GMT on 26 October last year.
The video, which did not show the lead up to the altercation, recorded Amesbury shouting: “You won’t threaten the MP ever again, will you?”
Alison Storey, prosecuting, told the court how, at about 02:00 GMT, 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 Mr Fellows recognised Amesbury and approached him to remonstrate about a bridge closure in the town.
She said CCTV showed an 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.”
Amesbury, 55, 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, Amesbury punched him to the head, knocking him to the ground.
He followed him on to the road after he fell and started to punch him again, at least five times, she said.
Amesbury, who now sits as an independent MP, won his seat at the general election in July with a majority of 14,696.
He had served under Labour since 2017 and was a shadow minister between 2018 and 2024.
‘Shocking’
He was granted bail to return for sentencing on 24 February.
Leaving court, he told reporters he was “sincerely sorry” to Mr Fellows and his family.
Amesbury would need to receive a prison sentence – including a suspended sentence – in order for there to be a recall petition in his seat of Runcorn and Helsby.
That recall petition would need to then have more than 10 per cent of voters in his constituency for it to trigger a by-election.
A recall petition would also be triggered if the House of Commons decided to suspend him for 10 sitting days or more. If he were to resign, that would also lead to a by-election.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously described the video footage as “shocking” and said Labour had “moved very swiftly” to respond.
Following the guilty plea, a 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.”
This article was originally published at www.bbc.com
