Newcastle’s midfielder Joey Barton, using crutches, pleaded not guilty today to assaulting his former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo when he appeared before Trafford Magistrates Court.
Barton spoke only to confirm his name and address and to enter a plea and the brief hearing lasted just 10 minutes.
Joey Barton – pleads not guilty to assault
The 24 year-old Barton is accused of attacking Dabo at City’s Carrington training ground on May 1st and was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm last week. He was again given unconditional bail and ordered to appear back at Trafford Magistrates’ Court in Manchester on October 4 at 9.30am. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail if he is found guilty.
Barton was suspended by his club after the incident, and sold to Newcastle in June in a £5.8M deal. He is recovering from injury after fracturing a metatarsal in his left foot during a pre-season friendly last month against Carlisle United and will be out at least another 3-4 weeks. Prosecuting, David Alcock described the incident as a ‘vicious attack’.
We would hope for the sake of the club and Barton himself, and for that matter everybody else involved in the case, that this doesn’t stretch out too long. If Barton has done wrong and is found guilty then he will need to face his punishment, whatever that may be.
In the worst case scenario, if he is found guilty and sent to jail, we have no idea what the reaction of the club would be. When Sam signed Joey he had not been charged with assault, although everybody was aware of the delicate situation. Obviously, this is now a serious charge and we trust Joey gets a fair hearing.
As far as the club is concerned don’t be surprised if Newcastle sign another central midfielder as a contingency plan in case the worst happens.
Comments welcome.
31 comments so far
dave bulman
Aug 9, 2007 at 3:48 PM
Comment #1hopefully something can be sorted out and he doesnt go to jail,we all know barton is no angel,but he is an amazing player,if he can sort his head out which i think sam will do for him,he will be a great driving force in our midfield,seems real happy with club.
Tony L
Aug 9, 2007 at 3:58 PM
Comment #2I really hope no jail sentance is handed out. I am sure he will be a major contribution to a successful season.
I don’t know how we stand if he is jailed, perhaps there is something in his contract – an appropriate release clause instead of the usual ones we have had to deal with!
george t
Aug 9, 2007 at 4:09 PM
Comment #3Hey Guys……there are two sides to every story and who knows how much this dabo contributed to the affair…..because of his reputation barton has already been hung drawn and quartered by the press…..just lets wait and see
gordie4real?
Aug 9, 2007 at 4:15 PM
Comment #4hop he goes jail, wht a nosense player he is. lock hm up n throw away da key. tht goes 4 all of them. the clubs in turmoil i tell u. never gonna b good as man unt. i bet sunderland wil win ther derby (as much as it hurts 2 say tht). USELESS, tym 4 a change
Alex
Aug 9, 2007 at 4:44 PM
Comment #5Hey george t Your right that thier are 2sides too every story.But when you see the photos of Dabos face then you would have to say that it was more than a little bit of push and shove.Lets hope that Joey whatever happend does not go to Jail. And that under Big Sam he looses his badboy image.
Tom_Toon
Aug 9, 2007 at 4:50 PM
Comment #6Dabo just seems a bit of a pussy, it must have bene prvoked. As for Dabo saying he looked like the elephant man, has he ever sene anything of the sort. He had a few stiches.
george t
Aug 9, 2007 at 4:51 PM
Comment #7Alex ……was their provocation from Dabo,who threw the first punch etc….yes his face was a mess but why would he plead not guilty if the evidence is so overwhelming…i think their is more to the situation than has been widely reported.
Kash
Aug 9, 2007 at 5:16 PM
Comment #8Well it’s a good thing Dabo didn’t have me beating his ass! I’d beat him good looking then further more, beat him back to his ugly old self!
As for Barton, well his family history suggests they’re all a bunch of thugs. To be honest, now he’s a Toon player, I don’t give a rats ass!
If there was any provocation, i’d imagine Dabo said something really arrogant (like French people do) about his family being thugs, and Barton went “OK, i’ll show you you C**T” and slapped him around a bit. Dabo probably bruises easily, fanny!
Kash
Aug 9, 2007 at 5:17 PM
Comment #9Lets start another witch hunt, throw eggs at Dabo’s house!!!!!
Dirk
Aug 9, 2007 at 5:23 PM
Comment #10Barton did attack Dabo, apparantly dabo said sumthing to piss barton off but was supposed to be jokin, he turned his back and barton jumped on him. supposedly anyway.
Ed Harrison
Aug 9, 2007 at 5:43 PM
Comment #11This could be a scary situation with Barton if he’s guilty – hate to think about it. But he’s got to learn as well – zero tolerance for that stuff under Sam.
Dingo
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:06 PM
Comment #12btw… if you want to see the elephant man in glorious technicolor then have a look at this link…. Dabo is huckle, Dabo is a huckle , la laa la la,LA LAA LA LA
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/article2228801.ece
Dingo
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:23 PM
Comment #13[img]http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00196/chris_neil185x185_196513a.jpg[/img]
Big Sam Fan
Aug 9, 2007 at 8:11 PM
Comment #14im sorry but from that picture from the times Dabo looks like he has a bump on his head and put tape on his eye not that bad. crist Ian Dowie looks worse when he gets out of bed.
Id bet on Dabo teasing Barton regarding his brother and probably thought take a beating and he will be out and i may get a game!!!
how the best laid plans are so often found wanting!!
Big Sam Fan
Aug 9, 2007 at 8:24 PM
Comment #15oops sorry bout that……..
……….Not that ive seen Dowie getting out of bed!! hehe
Taylor for captain
gk Given
rb Carr
lb Enrique
cb Taylor (c)
cb Rozenhal
rm Milner
lm N’Zogbia
cm Butt
cm Geremi
st Martins
st Smith
This will be the starting line up for the Bolton game cant see any other possibilities for this game. up front we need pace and strength from Smith and Martins, midfield we need hard tackling from Butt, Geremi with all the ideas and commited to challenge everyone on the field imagine a Nolan sandwich between Butt and Geremi!! Milner and NZogbia to help with the counter attacks with Smith and Martins. Taylor, Enrique and Carr will be hard tackling and Rozenhal solid and put all that with the best keeper in the prem then i think we will win.
on the Given thing is he fit for the game??
Also with the defences been put in front of all the keepers in the prem last season and this i strongly believe that Given will prove that he is the best. last season he did great when he was fit cos the defence has been garbage for ages!!!!! now he has a decent defence he will flourish!!!
rich
Aug 9, 2007 at 8:26 PM
Comment #16why arent my comment appearing?
rich
Aug 9, 2007 at 8:27 PM
Comment #17Ed, im trying to post a comment with a link but every time i do it it wont appear??? im confused
rich
Aug 9, 2007 at 8:40 PM
Comment #18anyway, Big Sam on NUFC TV saying:
‘ a couple of our big targets this week look like they wont come off, its been a frustrating week’
sounds like the reports he told Drago to go where the sun dont shine are true.
If all Drago wants is money then i agree, we dont need any more Dyers in our team we need ppl like Smith & geremi etc..
rich
Aug 9, 2007 at 8:40 PM
Comment #19EVERYONE, please read this artcile and then go and complain to FIFA that their Vice-President is racist.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6939170.stm
FIFA Should be uniting the footballing world not dividing it.
you can contact FIFA here:
http://www.fifa.com/contact/form.html
why wont this post??????
Alex
Aug 9, 2007 at 8:57 PM
Comment #20given
carr taylor rozy zog
butt
geremi smith
milner viduka oba
If we play this team saturday then 4-0 the toon
1-o viduka
2-0 oba
3-0 oba
4-0 geremi
Ed Harrison
Aug 9, 2007 at 9:51 PM
Comment #21Rich – very ill-advised statements from Warner – we haven’t made any impact on world football -we haven’t done too great but where was he in 1966?
Ed Harrison
Aug 9, 2007 at 9:54 PM
Comment #22Alex – i’m glad you said that first. 4-0 is the score in my head over the last few days regarding the result Saturday – but wondering if that’s just too wildly optimistic – but we’ve looked so good in pre-season and Saturday is when it really counts – so I see the lads just going all out with that Allardyce 100% commitment. If that’s the score then on Saturday night Geordies will be walking 2″ off the ground.
ToonKing
Aug 9, 2007 at 10:26 PM
Comment #23Well 4-0 might be a little too optimistic Ed. 🙂 I say 2-1 or 2-0.
As for Barton, i’m fairly sure he won’t get any jail time, maybe a few years on probation, a fine and maybe some community work.
And i hope that after we beat Bolton on saturday, Barton will get Smith, drive down to Manchester, wait till it’s dark, and kick the living s**t out of Dabo. What a pussy, suing someone for a black eye,chickenshit.
AlexW
Aug 9, 2007 at 10:31 PM
Comment #24bring on saturday, toons looking amazing this year, so excited, what talent we really have, and trust in sam for him to bring the best out of them. Geremi for captain, i feel in the current sqaud he has the best leading skills, so unless he brings in another candinate, theres no doubt in my mind, and i think in big sams.
the thing with the barton situation is, yh ok he has lamped this dabo, but lets be honest there must of been some heck of a reason, and i think he was most likley verbally abused, and has hit him. Or maybe he has hit him in self defense??? either way, unless hes just gone up and whacked him for no reason i honestly cannot see him gettin a jail sentance, but if he does i doubt it will be more than 2-3 month.
my team for saturday:
………………….Harper……………….
Carr….Rozenhal….Taylor….N’Zogbia
………………….Geremi………………..
Milner…………………………….Luque
………………….Smith………………….
………….Viduka……..Martins……….
maybe swap luque for smith….. but yh thats my team 😀
Ed Harrison
Aug 9, 2007 at 10:38 PM
Comment #25The main thing is we start with a win – which I think we can do – we need the 3 points and a good performance. 😀
Ed Harrison
Aug 9, 2007 at 10:43 PM
Comment #26AlexW – Luque’s out injured after the Gateshead game (groin injury) so will not play Saturday – think that’s the back 4 Sam will play – with N’Zogbia slotting in for a game at LB (he’s been so good in pre-season – both in play and attitude) . Then the question is who plays out wide on left? Maybe Smith could play there and bring in Ameobi/Carroll for Smith in center? I don’t think Sam will play Carroll though.
Harper must have strong steady game against Bolton too.
Dirk
Aug 9, 2007 at 11:20 PM
Comment #27ed and alexW, y not play milner on the left and solano on the rite?
Hammy
Aug 10, 2007 at 12:38 AM
Comment #28My mate is an Inspector in the MET, there is no way on this planet that Barton will do any porridge……half the quayside would be down in Durham if they jailed everyone that threw a punch. Sorry it’s not gonna happen.
I’m thinking of player of the season already……..being a clapped out ex centrehalf/sweeper with no skill but can hack with either foot I’m looking forward to some great displays from Rozehnal.
rich
Aug 10, 2007 at 7:40 AM
Comment #29^^ my sentiments exactly Hammy, the press keep on saying:
‘his maximum jail term could be 5 years’
when the hell have you heard of anyone getting sent to jail for 5 years for punching someone?
never i tell you!!!
rich
Aug 10, 2007 at 7:42 AM
Comment #30my team for TOMMOROW… cant wait… i think my local is showing the game on Arabic TV 🙂
———Harper
Carr Taylor Rozey Zog
Solano Smith Geremi Milner
——-Martins Viduka
^^ very versitile team their, we can play 442 or shift to a 433 instantly with smith moving up and geremi slotting in deeper.
arctoa (D.)
Aug 10, 2007 at 9:48 AM
Comment #31Lee Hughes only got a couple of years for killing a handful of people on the road in ’04. Eric Cantona only got community service to fulfil for his infamous karate-kick incident. In other words, there’s no chance that Barton will be sent to prison for this. If he does, it’ll be judgement by media witch-hunting.