London Evening Standard/London
Labour MP Eric Joyce has been banned from every pub in Britain after he admitted head-butting two Tories in a drunken rampage at the House of Commons.
Labour MP Eric Joyce leaves after being sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London yesterday
Joyce, 51, escaped jail but was handed a 12-month community order, a weekend curfew and a three-month ban from anywhere selling alcohol.
He was also fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,400 compensation to his four victims.
Outside court afterwards he candidly admitted he had a “tendency towards being physically aggressive” and was lucky to have avoided prison. However, he insisted he will not resign from the Commons and intends to stay as the £65,000-a-year MP for Falkirk until the 2015 election.
He said: “I think drink was an aggravating factor, absolutely no question of that, and it’s something I’ll have to deal with personally.”
The full, extraordinary story of how the “drunk and angry” MP for Falkirk ran amok in the Strangers Bar at the Commons on February 22 unfolded at Westminster magistrates’ court.
Within a few minutes he had head-butted Tory MP Stuart Andrew and Conservative councillor Ben Maney.
In an unprovoked attack, he also struck Tory councillor Luke MacKenzie and fellow Labour MP and party whip Phillip Wilson. He also swung a punch at Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke which missed but grazed his head.
When the police arrived he told them, “You can’t touch me I’m an MP”, and said he had hit Andrew because “He deserved it”.
As he was handcuffed and dragged away he continued to kick out at the Commons fittings. After being detained overnight at Belgravia police station he told officers: “There were some noisy Tories around me.”
The brawl started when Stuart Niven, a leading amateur opera singer, who was with Joyce, began singing in the bar around 10.30pm.
There were a number of Conservative MP and the guests at surrounding tables and Joyce appeared to think they objected, announcing: “There are too many Tories in this bar.”
Joyce was represented in court by top criminal defence barrister Jeremy Dein, QC.
Dein said his client does not regard himself a heavy drinker and on the night of the brawl had a bottle of wine but no food all day. “Because he had been drinking he has no clear recollection but immediately accepts what the witnesses have said, including the two head-butts,” he said.
Joyce said: “I’m particularly apologetic to the people who were so badly affected by my actions, to my constituents, family and of course all the other people involved. Clearly that’s a long list and a significant litany of sins on the evening.
“I am aware I’m fortunate to avoid jail for something that was a very serious offence or series of offences.” Joyce said he expected suspension from Parliament but insisted there would be no by-election. “I’ll continue to serve as an MP for the period I was elected to until 2015.” The father-of-two is amicably separated from his wife and served 15 years in the army, rising to the rank of major.
Dein said Joyce’s excellent record of public service was now in ruins because of “seconds of volatility and loss of self-control”.
District judge Howard Riddle told Joyce: “What you did has not only brought physical harm but real distress to a number of people, shame on yourself and also damaged the reputation of the place where you work and where the laws of this country are made,” he said.
He made it clear that had the MP pleaded not guilty and been convicted he would have been jailed.
He could lose everything ... except £65,000 salary
Eric Joyce faces suspension from the Commons, expulsion from the Labour Party and an ignominious exit at the 2015 general election. But although his career lies in ruins, he is allowed to hang on to his title Member of Parliament, a £65,000-a-year salary and all those nice expenses. The continuation of most perks and privileges of an “honourable member” will keep him solvent — but senior Westminster figures are determined he will not entirely escape disgrace in the Commons. Sources close to Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday made clear that Joyce will be thrown out of his party and banned from calling himself a Labour MP. He is already suspended, pending a hearing on whether to expel him.
