Man sucker-punched by Labour MP Mike Amesbury breaks his silence as he is seen for the first time since attack_Nhy
The constituent sucker punched to the ground by Labour MP Mike Amesbury broke his silence as he was seen for the first time since the attack today – and confirmed he has spoken to police.
Paul Fellows, 42, left his home this morning carrying an overnight bag – and got into a waiting taxi.
He told MailOnline: ‘I have spoken to police but whether I’m going to speak to them again I’d rather keep that to myself.’
Mr Fellows was floored by Mr Amesbury, his constituency MP, at 2.15am on Saturday in the Cheshire market town of Frodsham.
The pair had been rowing in the taxi queue over Labour’s plans to means test the winter fuel payment and the closure of the Sutton Weaver swing bridge moments before the fracas.
Both men had spent the evening drinking in local pubs and the argument turned violent when Amesbury suddenly lashed out with a left hook.
The punch floored Mr Fellows and while he was sprawled on the ground, the Labour MP for Runcorn and Helsby hit him several more times in the head before the men were prised apart by shocked members of the public.
Paul Fellows (pictured leaving his home this morning carrying an overnight bag) said he had spoken to police after being punched to the ground by Labour MP Mike Amesbury
Mr Amesbury, MP for Runcorn and Helsby, was seen out in Yorkshire on Monday after being suspended by the Labour party for his actions on in the early hours of Saturday morning
Mr Amesbury launches a punch seemingly without physical provocation and then continues to hit the man a further five times while he lay on the ground
Amesbury’s attack was captured on CCTV and mobile phone footage shot during the aftermath saw him bend down towards his victim and snarl: ‘You won’t threaten the MP ever again will you?’
He has since been suspended by the Labour Party and is facing a police investigation.
A woman who intervened following the 2.15am brawl said Amesbury had defended his actions by saying: ‘He was on at me constantly – was I not supposed to snap?’
She had been waiting in a nearby taxi queue with her partner and spoke to the ‘steaming drunk’ politician following the attack.
She said: ‘There were people shouting at him that he’d lost his job and abusing him for hitting the other guy.
‘I had a quiet word with him afterwards and said “mate, what have you done. You’ve messed up everything”.
‘He replied, “No I haven’t, he was on at me constantly and wouldn’t leave me alone – what was I supposed to do? Was I not supposed to snap?”‘
The CCTV footage shows Amesbury bending over the man and throwing a barrage of at least more five punches. It is not clear how hard they connected.
Others milling about in the street were then alerted to the fracas and ran to stop it.
The MP had spent the evening at a meeting with residents, the local policing team and Cheshire’s Labour Police and Crime Commissioner, Dan Price, to discuss ‘policing priorities and concerns’.
Mr Fellows (pictured outside his house on October 29) was floored by Mr Amesbury, his constituency MP, at 2.15am on Saturday in the Cheshire market town of Frodsham.
A witness has claimed that Mr Amesbury and the constituent were talking about the closure of a local bridge
Pictured: Mike Amesbury MP who has had the Labour whip suspended pending an investigation into footage that appeared to show him punching a man to the ground
The eyewitness continued: ‘I told him that he was an MP and in the public eye and no matter what was said he couldn’t go around lamping people.
‘Mike was steaming drunk but he had a brief sober moment when he realised what he’d done and he just looked down and said ‘s***t’.
‘He told me that the man had confronted him over something but didn’t want to disclose to me what it was. He just said ‘he kept going on at me over things I have no control over.’
The woman said she waited with Amesbury until her cab arrived.
She said Mr Fellows got up off the floor around 20-minutes later and tried to confront the MP again.
The eyewitness told MailOnline: ‘He was grinning like a Cheshire cat. I asked the man who was hit if he knew who Mike was and he said he did.
‘He seemed intent on confronting him again but we pushed him away. I asked the staff in the taxi office if they could let Mike in because he was getting grief and they agreed.
‘The man who was punched didn’t have a mark on him.
‘He seemed to have a friend with him who was filming him talking to Mike but who did absolutely nothing when he was punched except continue filming on his mobile phone.
‘I think the man who was punched had antagonised Mike and he bit. But you cannot go around hitting people. Especially if you’re in a position of power like an MP.’
Hours before the brawl, MP Mike Amesbury had attended a meeting with the local police commissioner
After the assault bystanders rush to help the man. One woman says: ‘You’re like grown men, what are you fighting for’
After the attack, Amesbury tells the man ‘don’t threaten me ever again.’ The shocking recording was obtained exclusively by the Mail after Amesbury went to police to report that he had been ‘involved in an incident’ after he ‘felt threatened’
Another video from the incident, filmed on a member of the public’s mobile phone, shows Mr Amesbury repeatedly hitting the man while another person appears to be attempting to push the MP away from the man
In the aftermath of the incident in the early hours of Saturday morning, Amesbury was filmed leaning over the man on the floor and warning him not to threaten him again
The video emerged of the aftermath of the attack but it did not show Amesbury punching the man. The footage showed him saying ‘You won’t ever threaten me again will you’
Cheshire Police said a 55-year-old man had been voluntarily interviewed under caution in relation to the incident and had since been released pending further enquiries.
Mr Amesbury released a statement on Saturday, saying: ‘Last night, I was involved in an incident that took place after I felt threatened on the street following an evening out with friends.
‘This morning, I contacted Cheshire police myself to report what happened during the incident.
‘I will not be making further public comment but will, of course, cooperate with any inquiries if required by Cheshire police.
‘I remain fully committed to working hard for the people of Runcorn and Helsby, and am determined to remain an open and accessible MP for our community.’