Barton to be freed despite new attack

Jul 1 2008 by Graeme Whitfield, The Journal

NEWCASTLE United midfielder Joey Barton is likely to leave jail today despite admitting attacking a former team mate.

The England international – who was jailed for assault and affray in Liverpool earlier this year – was due to go on trial at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday, but changed his plea shortly before the scheduled start.

Barton, 25, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm to Ousmane Dabo when they were colleagues at Manchester City last year. He will be sentenced this morning by Judge Mushtaq Khokhar, who has indicated he will impose a suspended sentence.

The court was told Barton was due to be freed on an electronic tag on Sunday, not taking into account the Manchester hearing.

He has served six weeks of his six-month jail term, imposed by Liverpool magistrates, but had already spent five days on remand and was given credit for his guilty plea.

Outlining the events at Manchester City’s training ground on May 1 last year, prosecutor Richard Vardon said it was an “explosive combination of football and violence”.

The pair squared up to each other after a simmering row during a training session, the court was told. Dabo, 31, was said to have felt intimidated that Barton had invaded his personal space as Barton shouted and swore at him.

The Frenchman pushed his shoulder with both hands, and in retaliation Barton punched him to the left side of his head, causing Dabo to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.

Mr Vardon said several witnesses described Barton continuing to punch Dabo up to four times while he lay on top of the dazed player. One player, Georgios Samaras, said he had never seen such a violent incident on a training pitch and would never forget it.

Dabo was treated in hospital for head trauma, an inflamed eye and bruised eyelids. Later he was told he would make a full recovery.

In excerpts from Dabo’s victim impact statement, read out by Mr Vardon, the player said he had suffered a lot of pain in the week after the incident and could not sleep. He had also suffered from headaches for three weeks.

Mr Vardon said: “He (Dabo) said he was genuinely scared that his eye was going to be permanently damaged so that he could not play football and there was a risk to his career.”

Dabo was knocked out for five or six minutes, Mr Vardon said.

Barton told police he had “acted instinctively in self defence”.

Timeline

SINCE bursting on to the Premiership football scene in April 2003, Joey Barton has been making headlines on and off the pitch.

He walked a fine line despite his fiery temper landing him in trouble time and again.

But he always avoided the courts and prison – until this year.

It is the third time Barton has been in court in 2008, but his bad behaviour stretches back more than four years.

In April 2004, he stormed out of Eastlands before kick-off after being axed from the Manchester City side to face Southampton and in a 2005 pre-season "friendly", sparked a mass brawl in a game against Doncaster.

At a Christmas party for Manchester City players that December, he stubbed a lit cigar into the eye of young team mate Jamie Tandy. He was fined six weeks’ wages.

In May 2005, he broke the leg of a 35-year-old pedestrian while driving his car at 2am in Liverpool city centre and the following month was involved in a spat with a 15-year-old Everton fan at City’s team hotel in Bangkok. Again he was fined by City.

The bad blood with Everton fans continued in 2006 when he dropped his shorts in the direction of home fans at Goodison Park. He was fined and warned by the FA.

In February last year, he made his England debut against Spain but a month later was arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal damage in an incident involving a taxi driver.

Three months later came the fight with Dabo, and a month after that he was sold by City to Newcastle Utd for £5.8m.

Barton sat out Newcastle’s Boxing Day game last year as he was injured, but went drinking in Liverpool city centre afterwards.

Early on December 27, he got into a row in a takeaway and violence again broke out.

Drunken Barton straddled his victim, punching him repeatedly in the face. He admitted assault and affray and was jailed on May 20 for six months.

Just 10 days later, he was brought back to court for alleged criminal damage to a taxi, a charge dating from March last year.

He was alleged to have ripped out the cabbie’s radio because he would not wait at a McDonald’s drive-through restaurant while Barton got food.

But after a trial at the city’s magistrates’ court, he was found not guilty of vandalising the taxi. His cousin Joshua Wilson, 19, admitted doing the damage.

Stars were to testify against player

A HOST of footballing stars had been due to give evidence, had Barton maintained his not guilty plea.

Manchester City striker Paul Dickov saw Barton lying on top of Dabo as others stood by and watched.

Prosecutor Richard Vardon said: "Paul Dickov ran over and put himself between the men and he received a blow to the face. Others then went over to intervene." England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce, who was Manchester City manager at the time, said Barton continued to punch Dabo as he lay dazed.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart said he watched Dabo fall and saw Barton hold on to him as he punched him in the face four or five times before he was ushered away.

Team mates Michael Johnson and Andreas Isaksson made similar observations, although Sylvain Distin did not recall Dabo being punched on the ground. Interviewed by police, Barton said he had "acted instinctively in self defence". Mr Vardon also addressed the non-co-operation of Distin, a former Newcastle United defender, as a witness.

He was summonsed to go to court yesterday but failed to appear. "The very fact that he was summonsed reflects his attitude," said the prosecutor.

Distin had argued he was not in the court’s jurisdiction and had commitments with current team Portsmouth.

Judge Khokhar said he would address the issue after Barton was sentenced.