Joey Barton has received a 12-week suspended prison sentence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being found guilty of assaulting his wife in June 2021.
The 42-year-old former footballer was convicted of attacking his wife, Georgia Barton, following a night of heavy drinking with two other couples.
According to court proceedings, Mrs Barton, 38, sustained a lump on her forehead and a bleeding nose as a result of the altercation.
Following the incident, Mrs Barton called the police, stating that her husband had “just hit me.” However, she later submitted a letter to prosecutors in an attempt to withdraw her allegations.
Despite this, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring dismissed Barton’s version of events as “vague” and ultimately found him guilty of a single charge of assault by beating after a two-day trial.
The prosecution also argued that Mrs Barton was not as intoxicated as both she and her husband had suggested. Ms Duong pointed out that her bloody nose “was an injury that really requires an explanation,” adding, “It was, plainly, something not caused by an accident.”
BREAKING: Former footballer Joey Barton has been found guilty of assaulting his wife
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During the trial, Barton admitted that he had argued with his wife but denied any physical altercation. He was found asleep in their bedroom on the night of the incident when officers arrived to arrest him, still intoxicated.
At the police station, he remained silent during questioning, offering a no-comment interview.
His defense lawyer, Simon Csoka, questioned the timing of events, suggesting that there was uncertainty about when exactly Mrs Barton sustained her injuries before making the emergency call.
Addressing the lump on her forehead, he argued, “There are a number of circumstances where the injury may have been sustained accidentally.”
Appearing in court dressed in a black jacket, jumper, trousers, and glasses, Barton did not speak while in the dock but was instructed to stand as the verdict was announced.
Despite the conviction, Barton and his wife remain married and share two children together.
