00:00:00
so Mike ampry is out of prison but not
00:00:02
out of the woods not yet he might still
00:00:05
lose his seat in Parliament for reasons
00:00:07
I'll explain in this video U but there's
00:00:09
also been quite a lot of outrage on
00:00:10
social media in response to this
00:00:12
sentence and his appeal to the Crown
00:00:14
Court against his sentence um because uh
00:00:17
if you haven't heard his uh sentence has
00:00:19
now been suspended so it's still a 10we
00:00:21
custodial sentence suspended for two
00:00:23
years and so the effect of that is that
00:00:26
he doesn't go to prison unless of course
00:00:29
he breaks the terms or doesn't comply
00:00:31
with the requirements um or he commits
00:00:33
any further offense and then he's
00:00:34
recalled to prison on this and any
00:00:36
further offense that he may commit and
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so as I say there's been quite a bit of
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outrage on this because quite clearly we
00:00:43
shouldn't really be uh condoning uh and
00:00:46
allowing this sort of behavior without
00:00:48
due punishment and that is the real key
00:00:51
here but there is um there is a bit of a
00:00:53
problem here and it's not really with
00:00:55
what the judge has done and I'll explain
00:00:57
why in this video um and also um before
00:01:00
you leave this video I'm also going to
00:01:02
link my Leonard friend Alan Robert
00:01:03
Shaw's video in the description below
00:01:04
he's got some thoughts on this as well
00:01:06
do go and watch that do subscribe to his
00:01:07
channel as well um but this has
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attracted quite a bit of uh commentary
00:01:12
and let's go to what Robert genck said
00:01:15
um there's there's a couple of things
00:01:16
here uh one of which I'm going to very
00:01:18
subtly disagree with but and I'm not
00:01:20
quick to disagree or criticize but I
00:01:22
will tell you why but the first bit is
00:01:24
actually quite clear he says this weak
00:01:26
sentence gives a green light to thuggery
00:01:28
and violence deter matters um and I
00:01:32
agree that it's a weak sentence um it's
00:01:35
not necessarily wrong for the offense
00:01:37
that was charged but that's important
00:01:39
for reasons I come back to in a minute
00:01:41
but um it is a weak sentence for what he
00:01:44
did um and I wouldn't I wouldn't go as
00:01:47
far as to saying it gives a green light
00:01:48
to thugian violence but what it what it
00:01:50
does do is mean that if people commit
00:01:52
this sort of act they should be able to
00:01:54
expect that sort of a sentence where
00:01:56
they don't actually go to prison um they
00:01:58
just get a suspended sentence as long as
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they a clean history and all the factors
00:02:02
are the same that the court considers
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Etc um but some people may then feel
00:02:07
that that's that's what they'll get if
00:02:09
they commit that sort of offense and I
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think that's wrong I don't I don't think
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that is enough of a deterrent but that's
00:02:15
just my personal view but when we look
00:02:17
at um what actually happened and I'll
00:02:20
take the cps's summary of what happened
00:02:22
because obviously it was prosecuted and
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so this is how they describe what
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happened Alison story here senior
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specialist prosecutor says uh this was a
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persistent assault by Mike amsbury which
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continued while the victim was on the
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floor offering no aggression and I've
00:02:38
always said in my videos if someone's on
00:02:39
the floor and you continue to punch them
00:02:41
then that is quite clearly an increase
00:02:44
in aggression by the offender the victim
00:02:47
was alone and not part of a group and
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CCTV showed that he was not being
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threatening or aggressive toward Mike
00:02:54
Asbury after the initial punch which
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knocked the victim to the ground Mike am
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fre struck the victim at least a further
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five times whilst he was on the
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floor the CPS will always seek to
00:03:07
prosecute violent offenses in accordance
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with our legal test regardless of who
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the perpetrator is but I do have one
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criticism here and I'm not quick to
00:03:17
criticize but I do have a criticism here
00:03:19
and the judge picked up on this as well
00:03:22
and that I can phrase as a question why
00:03:24
was this only charged as a single charge
00:03:28
of common assault when for for many
00:03:31
reasons I mean it didn't go as far as um
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you know breaking bones and things like
00:03:35
that um but it could have been charged
00:03:37
as a fry um my Lear friend Alan
00:03:40
Robertshaw goes into a good description
00:03:42
on a fry but essentially it involves two
00:03:45
people and a third so one person
00:03:47
directing the violence another person
00:03:49
against whom that violence is directed
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and a third person of reasonable
00:03:54
firmness that it may cause them to fear
00:03:56
immediate harm and so the the judge
00:03:59
question this in in going through this
00:04:01
case today the judge questioned why this
00:04:03
was not charged as a fry and obviously
00:04:05
then it might may have been sentenced
00:04:06
differently but the judge quite rightly
00:04:09
said that he was not going to go behind
00:04:12
uh the original charge and thus look at
00:04:16
the case as it would have been looked at
00:04:19
at the Magistrate Court by the district
00:04:20
judge there and sentence it accordingly
00:04:24
and the sentence the judge reached was
00:04:26
the same in terms of the 10we sentence
00:04:29
uh but then went on to suspend it
00:04:31
because of mitigating factors now this
00:04:34
is still a custodial sentence now that's
00:04:36
a bit of an oxymore on him that he
00:04:38
doesn't go to prison but it's still a
00:04:40
custodial sentence because it is a
00:04:42
sentence of 10 weeks custody orbe it
00:04:44
suspended for two years and all that
00:04:46
means is he doesn't go to prison and so
00:04:48
long as he behaves for the next two
00:04:49
years and complies with the requirements
00:04:51
then he doesn't go to prison but that's
00:04:53
not the end of the matter either because
00:04:56
um there was also other requirements we
00:04:58
go back to the CPS page I'll come back
00:05:00
to Robert genrich's Post in a minute um
00:05:02
going back to the CPS page he was also
00:05:04
ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid
00:05:06
work community service um undertake a
00:05:09
12-month alcohol monitoring requirement
00:05:11
which um I'll come back to in a second
00:05:13
um complete an anger management course
00:05:15
and Carry Out 20 days of
00:05:17
Rehabilitation uh the alcohol bit was
00:05:20
interesting going back to the Chester
00:05:22
standard that reported on this today the
00:05:24
judge raised the point that the
00:05:25
probation service were disappointed that
00:05:27
he only reduced his alcohol in take
00:05:30
instead of removing it out of his life
00:05:31
now just as an aside here um anyone
00:05:33
who's ever in trouble with anything
00:05:34
that's remotely related to alcohol would
00:05:36
be best advised to abstain from alcohol
00:05:39
completely and demonstrate that you've
00:05:41
given it up completely to demonstrate
00:05:42
that you you know you've seen the error
00:05:44
of your ways um also I've heard many
00:05:47
barristers um advise that when someone
00:05:50
is involved in anything to do with road
00:05:52
traffic matters that has a let's say a
00:05:54
fast car or sports car or something like
00:05:57
that that they either garage the car or
00:05:59
they sell the car to demonstrate that
00:06:02
they've seen the error of their ways in
00:06:03
the way that they've been driving and
00:06:05
they're taking steps to improve that and
00:06:07
I've heard that reported to be very
00:06:08
successful in court because it's a very
00:06:10
powerful statement to say well I realize
00:06:13
and recognize that using that car in
00:06:15
that way is dangerous therefore if I get
00:06:16
rid of the car it's demonstrative that
00:06:19
I'm taking steps to improve things so in
00:06:22
this case um the judge raised the point
00:06:24
that probation was disappointed uh that
00:06:25
he'd only reduce his alcohol intake
00:06:27
instead of removing from his life
00:06:28
completely um the judge then raised
00:06:30
anger management issues ETC and so the
00:06:32
judge then ordered that he's got a
00:06:34
monitoring requirement for alcohol for
00:06:36
12 months um but a 12-month alcohol
00:06:39
abstinence order and anger management
00:06:42
course but coming back to the second
00:06:43
Point by Robert jich here he says it
00:06:45
risks the perception of two-tier Justice
00:06:46
a court hearing aims Bri's appeal within
00:06:48
72 hours uh when more serious cases are
00:06:51
being listed for 2028 um absolutely it
00:06:54
does it does risk the appearance of
00:06:56
two-tier Justice and um the disparity
00:06:58
between the two is massive but obviously
00:07:00
those are two very different cases
00:07:02
different types of offenses and there
00:07:03
are only really two fairly small but
00:07:06
good reasons why this heard so quickly
00:07:08
um one is that because it was a 10we
00:07:11
custodial sentence obviously if it took
00:07:13
longer than that to appeal the sentence
00:07:15
then there's no point appealing the
00:07:16
sentence so it would be heard relatively
00:07:18
quickly anyway and secondly because it's
00:07:20
an appeal from the magistrates Court to
00:07:22
the Crown Court that has to be done
00:07:24
within 15 business days I understand
00:07:27
that that was indicated immediately
00:07:28
because he applied for bail and Baal was
00:07:30
refused um that is another reason that
00:07:32
it was heard so quickly but that's not
00:07:33
to say that I agree that that's right
00:07:35
and that's not to say that I agree that
00:07:36
it should be like that um it should not
00:07:39
have been because he's an MP in fact the
00:07:41
judge was quite clear today to say that
00:07:44
he's um sentencing him as a member of
00:07:46
the public rather than as an MP and that
00:07:48
works both ways rather than punishing
00:07:50
him more because he's an MP and rather
00:07:52
than giving him any leniency because
00:07:54
he's an MP whichever way you think that
00:07:56
that should lean um the judge was clear
00:07:58
to say that he would sentence him as a
00:08:00
member of the public but the bigger
00:08:03
problem here aside from how quickly this
00:08:05
appeal Was Heard which many people will
00:08:07
disagree with and I'm not saying it's
00:08:09
right that it was heard so quickly in
00:08:11
fact with the backlog in the system I
00:08:14
think there are lots of other cases that
00:08:15
were probably pushed aside to get this
00:08:17
in I can only think that logically there
00:08:19
were lots of other cases that would
00:08:21
otherwise have been lined up to go to
00:08:23
court to be heard today that weren't
00:08:25
because of this one but I'm not involved
00:08:27
in that so I can't really comment um but
00:08:29
as to the charge itself um it does leave
00:08:31
a bit of a question mark as to why this
00:08:33
was only prosecuted as a common assault
00:08:36
because if we look at what actually
00:08:38
happened again it's relatively serious
00:08:41
now thinking that a single punch I can't
00:08:44
use too many descriptive words and
00:08:46
language on YouTube otherwise the video
00:08:48
gets flagged and banned but um a single
00:08:50
punch can do extensive damage if you
00:08:54
know what I mean and so um this was not
00:08:56
just one either this was one that
00:08:58
knocked him to the ground and then the
00:09:00
video uh showed according to the CPS at
00:09:04
least a further five while he was on the
00:09:07
floor which I think should go I mean I'm
00:09:10
not a specialist I've done criminal work
00:09:12
but I'm not a specialist criminal Barr
00:09:13
but I both as a barister that has done
00:09:16
some criminal work you understand and as
00:09:18
a member of the public with the
00:09:20
knowledge that I have as a barister if
00:09:22
that makes sense I think this should
00:09:23
have been charged more seriously I mean
00:09:25
I would invite my colleagues to comment
00:09:28
they probably won't as whether this
00:09:29
should have been charged more seriously
00:09:31
than just a common assault but here we
00:09:32
are this is how it was charged the
00:09:34
district judge in the magistrates Court
00:09:36
um gave a 10we prison sentence and it's
00:09:39
been modified here subtly to have it
00:09:42
suspended and uh these additional
00:09:44
requirements and so actually looking at
00:09:46
this in the round you might think that
00:09:48
the 200 hours of unpaid work the 12month
00:09:51
alcohol abstinence monitoring
00:09:53
requirement and an anger management
00:09:55
course and 20 days of rehab is this
00:09:58
rehabilitative Justice at work um this
00:10:01
this could be something that actually U
00:10:04
puts somebody on the right track who is
00:10:06
otherwise angry out in the street and
00:10:08
punching people and it might actually
00:10:10
work and this might be something that we
00:10:12
should be looking to as a society again
00:10:14
let me know your thoughts to that in the
00:10:15
comments below or should it be
00:10:17
straightforward and just send to prison
00:10:18
to send a deterrent message out that if
00:10:20
you do this you go to prison let me know
00:10:22
what you think in the comments below but
00:10:24
why is he not out of the woods yet
00:10:26
because it is still a custodial sentence
00:10:29
even though it's been suspended which
00:10:30
means the recall petition is still
00:10:33
triggered and it's only 10% of the
00:10:35
constituents to vote to have him lose
00:10:38
his seat so again a recall petition is
00:10:41
triggered if an MP is convicted of an
00:10:44
offense in the UK and receives a
00:10:45
custodial sentence including a suspended
00:10:47
sentence or is ordered to be detained
00:10:49
other than solely for mental health um
00:10:51
suspended from the commons for 10 days
00:10:53
or 14 calendar days um convicted of
00:10:56
providing false information misleading
00:10:57
information Etc so the recall petition
00:11:00
is still triggered and it only takes 10%
00:11:02
of the constituency to sign the petition
00:11:04
and then they lose their seat and then
00:11:06
who can sign the petition anyone that's
00:11:07
registered at an address to vote signing
00:11:10
the petition to sign the petition you to
00:11:12
go to the allotted signing Place
00:11:13
petition officer will send the details
00:11:14
of the location and opening hours Etc so
00:11:16
you could look for that if you're in
00:11:17
that constituency so there there's a
00:11:19
broad outline of what happened today
00:11:20
don't forget to check out Al Robert
00:11:22
Shaw's video link below um more
00:11:24
discussion on AR Fray and this case in
00:11:25
general which I hope you find
00:11:27
interesting I'll link that below um let
00:11:29
me know what you think this this one
00:11:30
really is splitting the hairs and for
00:11:32
what it's worth I think that this is not
00:11:34
enough of a deterrent I think he's got
00:11:36
off lightly I wouldn't go as far as
00:11:38
saying this is a green light to thuggery
00:11:40
and violence but what it what what I
00:11:41
think it does do is it does send the
00:11:44
message that those that have a clean
00:11:45
record that do this kind of thing um
00:11:48
should expect not to go to prison orbe
00:11:50
they get a criminal record and a
00:11:51
suspended sentence Etc if everything
00:11:52
goes down exactly the way it did today
00:11:55
for them and of course I don't recommend
00:11:57
that I don't condone that I don't think
00:11:58
that's right right and nobody should do
00:12:00
that just to make all of that absolutely
00:12:02
clear but I do think this is not enough
00:12:03
of a deterrent I have to say what I
00:12:05
think just what I think let me know what
00:12:07
you think and as always thank you for
00:12:08
watching
