English Footballer Jailed After Drunken Attack

Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton was jailed for six months today after admitting to charges of assault and affray in an incident the judge described as “extremely violent and aggressive.”

25-year-old Barton was arrested in Liverpool city centre in the early hours of Dec. 27 after becoming involved in two violent confrontations outside a McDonald’s restaurant with his cousin and brother.

“Without doubt, the most serious of the three offenders is you,” Judge Henry Globe said. “You were restrained by others, but ignored them and acted in an extremely violent and aggressive manner.”

After consuming 10 pints and five bottles of beer, and after a series of verbal confrontations outside a McDonald’s, Barton was caught on CCTV knocking an unidentified man to the ground. He then straddled the man and punched him four or five times as his cousin threw food at the victim before Barton punched him up to 15 times more.

Minutes later, Barton attacked 16-year-old Jordan Spencer, punching him and leaving him with broken teeth.

The court was told Joey Barton was remorseful about the incident and had admitted to an alcohol problem.

Globe jailed Barton for six months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and four months, concurrently, for affray. Barton also had to pay 2,500 pounds ($5,000) to Spencer.

Barton’s future with Newcastle is uncertain. After the incident, Barton didn’t play again for the Magpies until Jan. 29 and was involved in 13 of the final games of the season.

Barton’s disciplinary problems include getting fined for dropping his shorts and exposing his backside to rival fans during a game, fighting with a teenage fan of a rival team in a bar, and putting out a lit cigar into the eye of a young teammate at a Christmas party.

In December 2005, Barton’s 17-year-old brother, Michael, was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for taking part in a racist attack in which two white men killed a black teenager with an axe.