UK: MP held after karaoke night punch-up

2013-03-15 15:01

British MP Eric Joyce (L) leaves Westminster Magistrates Court in London after pleading guilty to charges of assault. (Justin Tallis, AFP)

London - A British parliamentarian was being held in custody on Friday after his arrest following a punch-up at a karaoke night in a bar in the House of Commons, police and witnesses said.

Eric Joyce was "obviously agitated" when he entered the bar, witness Tony Grew told ITV, adding that he later saw him outside the bar "wrestling with two police officers".

"He appeared to have one of the officers in an armlock, he put his arm around the officer's neck, and the other police officer was on top of him," said Grew, an editor at PoliticsHome website.

Police said they had been called to a "disturbance" at the bar, and that a man in his 50s remained in custody while they investigated.

Grew said that Joyce may have become upset because he was not allowed to take a glass outside to the smoking area.

Joyce pleaded guilty to four counts of common assault last year, after he headbutted two Conservative parliamentarians in a Commons bar and punched two other lawmakers.

The former soldier, who admitted he had been "hammered" during the attack last year, afterwards resigned from the Labour party.

- SAPA