Flabbergasted: Mike Amesbury MP Jailed for Unprovoked Assault of Constituent

I am absolutely flabbergasted at the sentence imposed on Mike Amesbury MP.

In case you missed it, the soon-to-be-former MP for Runcorn and Helsby has just been jailed for 10 weeks for an unprovoked assault on constituent Paul Fellows.

It wasn't a very nice assault - Amesbury and Fellows were discussing the closure of a bridge in the town of Frodsham. The MP, who was well oiled at the time, clearly didn't like the line of conversation, telling Mr Fellows it was "nothing to do with me".

Mr Fellows was stood with his hands in his pockets at the time. As he looked away, Amesbury aimed a punch to his head. A dazed Mr Fellows was knocked to the ground and Amesbury continued raining punches down at his head.

CCTV footage of the incident shows a completely unprovoked assault on Mr Fellows. The matter is further compounded by the fact that Labour-man Amesbury tried to slime his way out of trouble, by saying that he "felt threatened" by Mr Fellows at the time. Total cobblers, of course.

There were lots of aggravating factors to this offence - Amesbury was drunk, the assault was totally unprovoked, it happened in the dead of night and with several onlookers.

Even so, it is unusual that DJ Tan Ikram has decided to impose an immediate 10 week custodial sentence.

Amesbury is a man of previous good character. He has undoubtedly done valuable work for his constituents and community. Despite initially trying to weasel his way out of it, the mood music would now suggest that he is genuinely remorseful for his actions.

In his sentencing remarks, DJ Ikram has given a good indication of his logic. He has said that he wants the sentence to have deterrent value and that he views Amesbury's offence as being a breach of his position of responsibility.

Turning to the relevant sentencing guideline, DJ Ikran views the offence of one of higher culpability, presumably due to Amesbury's persistence (e.g. repeated blows) and Mr Fellows' vulnerability (e.g. on the ground, not fighting back).

In terms of harm, DJ Ikram considers that Mr Fellows has suffered a medium level of harm.

Referring to the guideline, that combination of culpability and harm gives a starting point of a medium level community order, with a range between a low level community order and 16 weeks' custody.

DJ Ikram has then factored in the aggravating and mitigating circumstances and concluded that they push the sentence towards the top of the range. Giving credit for Amesbury's early guilty plea, he has arrived at the final sentence of 10 weeks'.

Even now, just because a sentence of 10 weeks' is on the cards, the court can consider whether a lesser sentence - e.g. a very intensive community order - might be more appropriate. The court should also consider whether or not the custodial term can be suspended.

Generally speaking, there are three circumstances where it might be appropriate to suspend the custodial term:

• Realistic prospect of rehabilitation;
• Strong personal mitigation;
• Immediate custody will result in significant harmful impact on others.

In Amesbury's case, I would certainly have expected there to be a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

Only then, having totally ruled out the prospect of an alternative to custody or a suspended custodial term, should the court be imposing an immediate custodial sentence.

For a one-off, first time offence like this, immediate custody is very unusual.

DJ Ikram has made another interesting comment when sentencing, saying that the guidelines "were not a strait jacket" - in other words, he is not slavishly in obeyance of them.

The decision to jail Amesbury has certainly put a cat among the pigeons, with neither the disgraced MP or his solicitor, Richard Derby, quite believing such an outcome. Amesbury didn't even have his overnight bag with him.

Mr Derby has indicated that Amesbury intends to appeal the sentence, which he has to do within 21 days. Once the appeal application is received a hearing will be listed at the Crown Court, but that might take another week or so. More about appeal hearings in my earlier article.

DJ Ikram refused to grant Amesbury bail pending the appeal, so the 55-year-old MP is currently on the bus destined for HMP Altcourse. His next few days in custody will undoubtedly be a very humbling experience.

One other thing that we learnt at today's sentencing hearing: Amesbury has no intention of resigning from his £7,500 a month role as an MP. He's clearly going to get as much as he can from the system before he is ejected from it.

Update (27/2/25): Amesbury has now appealed his sentence.