The 10-week prison sentence of Mike Amesbury MP has been suspended on appeal.
The appeal of the 55-year-old MP for Runcorn and Helsby was heard at Chester Crown Court on Thursday, 27th February 2025. HHJ Steven Everett, the Honorary Recorder of Chester, presided over the appeal.
Amesbury was handed the 10-week sentence for his unprovoked assault of constituent Paul Fellows. It would be fair to say that the immediate custodial sentence took a lot of commentators, including myself, by total surprise. It is very unusual for a person to receive an immediate custodial sentence for a first offence of assault by beating (section 39 assault).
HHJ Everett, who was sitting with two Justices, was clearly very unimpressed with Amesbury's conduct on the night of the offence and during the immediate aftermath.
The Judge began by pondering why Amesbury had been charged with assault by beating when a charge of affray might have been more appropriate.
Summarising the assault, HHJ Everett said: "This was on the face of it an assault by a man, in a public place, following up the initial punch, which was a pretty robust punch, with a whole series of other punches, on a man who is effectively defenceless on the ground.
"You lost your temper in a huge way, you took it out on him by punching him and then following him and repeating to punch him on the floor."
The Judge also noted that Amesbury, who he described as having "anger management issues", had "told the police a pack of lies" after the event, when he claimed to have felt threatened by Mr Fellows.
Endorsing the length of DJ Ikram's original sentence, HHJ Everett went on to consider if the custodial term should instead be suspended. Considering the MP's remorse and prospect of rehabilitation, the balance was tipped in that direction.
Amesbury's immediate 10-week sentence was suspended for a period of 2 years. He will be released from HMP Altcourse later today.
The requirements of the suspended sentence are that he undertakes 200 hours' unpaid work and up to 20 days' rehabilitation activity. He will also be subject to 12 month alcohol monitoring requirement and need to attend an anger management course.
Under current legislation - the Recall of MPs Act 2015 - an MP faces a recall petition, and therefore the prospect of losing their seat, if they receive a custodial sentence. This applies to both immediate and suspended sentences.
Amesbury will now face such a petition and in all likelihood will lose his seat.
As the Prime Minister recently said: "Law makers cannot be law breakers".
3 comments:
Got there in the end. It doesn’t do the reputation of the lower court any good to give the impression of just making sentencing up rather than following the guidelines. Even if the custody threshold had been passed, there was no reason not to suspend it in the first place. See my comment on Monday.
I agree.
Shocking decision. He hit him 3 times on the floor & had to be pulled off victim
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