Mike Amesbury: MP jailed for punching constituent in street walks free after appealing against prison sentence

Published

8 months ago

February 27, 2025

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Former Labour MP Mike Amesbury will walk free after winning an appeal against his 10-week jail sentence for punching a man in the street.

The sentence handed to him on Monday will now be suspended for two years.

It means the Runcorn and Helsby MP will not be jailed, unless he commits any more crimes within that time.

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Honorary Recorder of Chester Judge Steven Everett, sitting with two magistrates, also ordered Amesbury to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, undertake a 120-day alcohol monitoring requirement, go on an anger management course and carry out 20 days of rehabilitation work.

Amesbury, 55, pleaded guilty in January to beating by assault after punching Paul Fellows, 45, in Main Street, Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of 26 October after his constituent asked him about a bridge closure.

He had been set to serve 40% of his sentence – four weeks – in prison followed by a year on licence.

However, his lawyer launched an appeal shortly after he was sentenced and after the appeal was heard at Chester Crown Court on Thursday, the judge said his jail time should be suspended.

Amesbury arrived at the court in a prison van, having spent three nights in prison, and was led into the building in handcuffs by an officer.

The judge initially ordered a 12-month alcohol monitoring requirement, but changed his mind and said it should be 120 days.

The Labour Party, which suspended Amesbury shortly after the incident, said he would not be allowed back into the party after his original sentencing.

However, he remains an independent MP and will continue to receive his £91,000 salary under parliamentary rules, which state an MP only has their salary removed when they are no longer an MP.

Amesbury has been urged to resign by Labour and Reform but has not done so and a recall petition cannot be issued until he has exhausted any appeals. He has not yet indicated if he will appeal his latest sentence.

A recall petition kickstarts a by-election if 10% of an MP’s constituents sign it.

Footage replayed in court on Thursday, showed Amesbury punching Mr Fellows in the head, knocking him to the ground then punching him five more times.

He was heard saying: “You won’t threaten your MP again will you, you f****** soft lad?”

The hearing was told Amesbury gave a prepared statement in a police interview where he initially claimed he had been approached by a man “shouting and screaming” about local and national matters, including a local swing bridge and immigration.

In the statement, he told police: “I thought I was about to be physically assaulted by this male. I was terrified and felt vulnerable and cornered by the male and others in the group.”

He said the man’s “arms were swinging” and he thought there was no option but to “defend” himself.

Judge Everett said: “What he said to police doesn’t seem to fit in with the CCTV in pretty well any respect.”

Amesbury’s barrister told the court he had spent three nights in prison, “an experience he will never forget, certainly”.

He said the “public shaming” and “embarrassment” had a huge impact on Amesbury, who he said “will learn a painful lesson”.

Politics

Thodex CEO found dead: How this $2B crypto scam changed Turkish law

Published

10 hours ago

November 8, 2025

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Thodex CEO found dead: How this B crypto scam changed Turkish law

Faruk Fatih Özer was found dead in his prison cell on Nov. 1. The former CEO of now-defunct crypto exchange Thodex was serving an 11,000-year sentence for running one of the largest crypto scams in history.

His death marks the latest turn in the Thodex saga, with ripple effects so significant they altered Turkish cryptocurrency laws.

The initial details of Özer’s death point to suicide, but the investigation is still ongoing. It has once more brought Thodex back into the spotlight.

Here’s a look back at Özer’s story, how the crypto exchange impacted Turkish law and how it may have contributed to the country’s increased crypto adoption.

$2-billion Thodex scam sees raids, arrest and CEO out on the lam

On April 21, 2021, Thodex cryptocurrency exchange suddenly shut down trading and withdrawals. The initial announcement read that this could continue for four to five days. As Cointelegraph Turkey reported at the time, the exchange claimed that this was to improve its operations with the help of “world-renowned banks and funding companies.”

But local media reported that Özer had fled to Thailand with over $2 billion in funds as part of an exit scam. There were also reports that police had raided the exchange’s offices in Istanbul.

Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office corroborated the reports the following day. It announced a probe into Thodex and said police had arrested 62 people allegedly involved in the scam. Özer denied the accusations, claiming his trip abroad was to meet foreign investors.

As of April 30, 2021, a Turkish court decided to jail six suspects, including family members of the missing CEO and senior company employees, pending trial. Interpol also issued a red notice for Özer.

“When he is caught with the red notice, we have extradition agreements with a large part of these countries. God willing he will be caught and he will be returned,” said Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu.

Özer managed to evade capture for over a year. Albanian authorities eventually detained him on Aug. 30, 2022. He attempted to appeal extradition in court, but the decision was upheld, and Özer was in Turkish custody by April 30, 2023, two years after the scandal began.

*Özer was detained by Turkish authorities after being extradited from Albania. Source:* AA

The case against Özer was swift. In July 2023, just three months after arriving in Turkey, he was sentenced to seven months and 15 days in prison for failing to submit certain documents requested by the Tax Inspection Board during the trial.

On Sept. 8, 2023, the Anatolian 9th High Criminal Court sentenced Özer, along with two of his siblings, to 11,196 years, 10 months and 15 days in prison, along with a $5-million fine.

In court, Özer claimed that he and his family were facing false accusations. He said, “I am smart enough to manage all institutions in the world. This is evident from the company I founded at the age of 22. If I were to establish a criminal organization, I would not act so amateurishly. … It is clear that the suspects in the file have been victims for more than 2 years.”

Özer was serving his sentence at the Tekirdağ No. 1 F-Type High Security Closed Penal Institution when he died. F-Type prisons are high-security institutions reserved for political prisoners, members of organized crime syndicates and other armed groups serving an aggravated life sentence.

Human rights advocates have repeatedly raised concerns about the conditions at F-Type prisons. In 2007, Amnesty International noted “harsh and arbitrary” disciplinary treatments, as well as isolation.

Turkey changes its laws to protect investors

The Thomex scandal and its ensuing fallout were so significant that they drove the Turkish government to change its policies toward cryptocurrencies.

Immediately following news of Özer fleeing the country, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey banned crypto payments and prohibited payment providers from offering fiat on-ramps for crypto exchanges. The official notice outlawed “any direct or indirect usage of crypto assets in payment services and electronic money issuance.” Notably, the ban excluded banks, meaning that users can still deposit lira onto crypto exchange accounts using bank transfers.

The ban aimed to ensure financial stability, while other agencies like the Capital Markets Board (CMB) and the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) moved to legitimize trading activities. In May 2021, MASAK amended money laundering and terrorism financing laws to include provisions for cryptocurrency.

By 2024, the “Law on Amendments to the Capital Markets Law” came into effect. This built on the initial changes in 2021, which included extensive consumer protection measures in addition to provisions on licensing and reporting.

These new measures, which also aimed to move Turkey off the Financial Action Task Force’s “gray list” of countries with inadequate Anti-Money Laundering measures, have in turn helped spur the local crypto industry.

Chainalysis’ “2025 Geography of Crypto Report” found that Turkey led the Middle East and North Africa in value received in crypto. Trading activity also spiked last year.

In the long term, the Thodex scandal may have led to increased crypto adoption in the country, but only after it rocked the Turkish crypto industry and left many investors out to dry. It also resulted in the imprisonment and death of its orchestrator and CEO.

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