Former UK member of parliament under Labour, Mike Amesbury, hasbeen jailed for 10 weeks after he admitted punching a man to the ground in his Cheshire constituency.
The BBC reports that Amesbury, 55, represented Runcorn and Helsby as an independent parliament member.
He was handed the sentence following a plea of assaulting 45-year-old Paul Fellows after video footage emerged showing the confrontation.
Amesbury 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”.
Amesbury was taken down to the cells immediately and an application for bail pending an appeal was refused.
Addressing the MP before handing down the jail term, the magistrate 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.
“You continued to attack when he was on the ground and it may have continued further had a bystander not intervened,” the magistrate said.
“You continued to rant, your position ought to be as a role model to others.”
According to the magistrate, 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, adding that 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 reoffend”.
