A former Scotland Yard Detective has slammed the "woefully inadequate" prison sentence handed to Labour MP Mike Amesbury for a violent assault, calling for much tougher penalties to combat rising street violence.
Peter Bleksley told GB News that the 10-week custodial sentence failed to reflect the seriousness of the attack, which was captured on CCTV.
"I would be looking at a couple of years as an absolute minimum," said the ex-detective, expressing grave concerns about violence across Britain.
Amesbury was sentenced at Chester Magistrates' Court on Monday for assaulting a man in Frodsham.
Peter Bleksley criticised the jail sentence handed to the former MP after punching a man in the street
PA / GB News
CCTV footage showed Amesbury physically attacking 45-year-old Paul Fellows in the Cheshire town of Frodsham on October 26. The MP was captured beating Fellows to the ground before delivering five additional punches.
Amesbury, who has represented Runcorn and Helsby since 2017, pleaded guilty to assault by beating last month.
Delivering his verdict on the sentencing, Bleksley told GB News: "This doesn't reflect the seriousness of the situation, and most importantly, it doesn't act as a deterrent to these villains, in these increasingly violent streets that are now plaguing the UK."
"Violence is breaking out on the streets of Britain, in every town, village and city," he stated.
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Amesbury followed Fellows into the road after he fell and started to punch him again at least five times, the court heardPAHe emphasised the potentially lethal nature of such attacks, noting that "any experienced murder detective would have told you about cases that they worked on where one punch can kill someone".
"It's simply not good enough to weigh somebody off with a pathetically, woefully inadequate sentence like this because it will not deter anyone," Bleksley added.
Highlighting the Government's current early release scheme in Britain's prisons, Bleksley predicted that Amesbury will serve "just a fraction" of his sentence.
Bleksley explained: "In all likelihood, he'll serve a fraction of ten weeks, probably ironically, being let out under an early release scheme and brought about by what was his Government."
Bleksley told GB News that the sentencing handed to Amesbury is 'inadequate'
GB News
Amesbury expressed being "sincerely sorry to Mr Fellows and his family" and was ordered to pay £200 in compensation.
The attack ceased when a bystander stepped in to intervene, with witnesses reporting that Amesbury "continued to rant" after the assault.
The former Labour MP will serve his sentence at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, a Category B prison, with the judge ruling he must serve 40 percent of the term in custody.
His application for bail was refused.
