Suspended Labour MP Mike Amesbury will be sentenced for punching a man following a row in the street.
The Runcorn and Helsby MP, who has been sitting as an independent since he was suspended following his arrest in October last year, is due to appear at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
He pleaded guilty at a hearing in January to assaulting 45-year-old Paul Fellows in Main Street in Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of October 26.
The court heard Amesbury had been drinking before he arrived at a taxi rank, where Mr Fellows approached him to remonstrate about a bridge closure in the town.
Footage showed Amesbury punch Mr Fellows to the head, knocking him to the ground, then follow him onto the road and start to punch him again, at least five times.
He was then heard saying “you won’t threaten your MP again will you?”
The court heard the sentencing guidelines for the offence ranged from a high level community order up to a prison sentence.
District Judge Tan Ikram told Amesbury he was “leaving all options open at this stage”.
Speaking outside court after entering his guilty plea, Amesbury said: “I’m sincerely sorry to Mr Fellows and his family.”
If Amesbury is sent to prison or given a suspended sentence, he could face the prospect of losing his seat in the Commons.
A sentence of less than a year, even if it is suspended, would leave him liable to the recall process, which would trigger a by-election if 10% of registered voters in his seat sign a petition calling for it.
A jail term of more than a year would mean Amesbury automatically losing his seat.
Speaking after the MP’s last court hearing, a Labour 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.”