Barton cleared of taxi charge
May 31 2008 by The Journal
NEWCASTLE United midfielder Joey Barton has been cleared of vandalising a taxi after a night out. The England international, who was last week jailed for six months for admitting assault and affray, was accused of ripping out a cabbie’s radio after a night out with his cousin Joshua Wilson in Liverpool last year.
But the fingerprints on the smashed screen were not Barton’s and yesterday his cousin admitted in court that he had caused the damage.
It took magistrates just 15 minutes to acquit the former Manchester City player.
Prosecutor Robert Jansen told Liverpool Magistrates’ Court that when the driver, Michael Kay, refused to queue at a McDonalds drive-through, Barton became aggressive. A row broke out, Mr Kay refused to take the men on to their destination and Barton was said to have ripped out the cabbie’s radio.
Mr Kay claimed that after receiving £25 up-front from Wilson, 19, he was happy to take the men and their girlfriends to McDonald’s on Edge Lane. He said he would wait while the men ordered at a serving hatch but not waste time in the vehicle queue.
Mr Kay, who said he did not recognise the troubled footballer until colleagues explained who he was later, said he gave £15 back to Wilson and asked the men to get out.
He said the girls got out but the men refused so he drove them to a nearby police station which was closed. Barton and his cousin insisted they wanted a full refund, said Mr Kay, and began smashing the plastic partition.
The cabbie radioed for help from other drivers, at which point the attack allegedly escalated.
Mr Kay said: “He grabbed the part just over my left shoulder. I heard a crack, turned around and he was yanking and yanking and it smashed.
“He grabbed hold of me, he was strangling me.”
Mr Kay and three other drivers who gave evidence claimed Barton and Wilson, who is unemployed, managed to get out of the cab and run off.
But Stuart Driver QC, for Barton, said Mr Kay gave no refund and when the men refused to get out, a call was put out which they understood was code for taxi drivers converging to attack problematic passengers.
Barton, of Foxbank Close, Widnes, said he tried to calm the row at McDonald’s and offered to pay more to go through the drive-through.
He said: “He didn’t seem to be in control and seemed to be going really mad. I said ‘Let’s forget about the money and get out of the cab and get to safety’, but he wouldn’t stop the cab.
“Josh was saying ‘Stop the cab’ but the guy wouldn’t and we were getting more scared and fearful of what would happen if more cab drivers came.”
Wilson, of Widnes, said when they managed to flee the cab, they ran away and hid behind a wheelie bin in someone’s garden. He said one cabbie had produced a rounders bat.
“The one with the bat took his glasses off and shouted ‘Come on Barton’,” said Wilson.
“Joey said ‘We are going to have to run for it’, so we did on the count of three and ended up hiding behind a wheelie bin for an hour.”
Barton will return to court in Manchester next month to stand trial accused of assaulting former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo, 31, who now plays for Lazio in Italy.
Hearing yesterday’s verdict, he said: “Thank you,” and smiled at his father.
Joey said ‘We are going to have to run for it’, so we did on the count of three
