We wondered why Joey Barton pleaded guilty, at the last minute yesterday, after strenuously denying he was not guilty over the previous 13 months.
 Joey Barton – changed plea to guilty to get off with suspended sentence
Well it turns out that the judge at yesterday’s trial, Judge Khokhar Mushtaq, sitting at Minshull Crown Court, Manchester, indicated that Barton would receive a suspended sentence if he pleaded guilty.
This mind you, after Joey had to leave jail to attend the trial, since he is serving 6 months for another similar crime, for which he was found guilty in May.
We thought Joey Barton may have had a pang of conscience and wanted to come clean at last yesterday, but no, the reason he pleaded guilty was because it was better for him to do so.
If there are any legal people out there, why do judges do these stupid things, and what’s the justification to give Joey a suspended sentence?
The guy is already in jail on a similar charge, so if he pleads guilty to another one the judge will effectively let him off and suspend the sentence?
Sounds absolute and complete nonsense to us, but there again we are not legal people.
Judge Mushtaq said yesterday that he had been impressed by Barton’s commitment to his treatment at Sporting Chance, the Hampshire clinic set up by Tony Adams, the former Arsenal and England defender.
Barton has been treated there for anger management and drink problems and the judge said yesterday:
“Should he comply with and continue with Sporting Chance, I do not see this happening again.â€
So it would appear that the judge is on Joey’s side, but the only way we can make sense of this is that the judge is really a closet Newcastle United supporter, and just not letting on.
Bottom line, this makes no logical sense to us at all, even though it may be good for Joey and Newcastle, at least in the short term.
We know footballers don’t live in the real world, but this is just ridiculous.
Comments welcome.
106 comments so far
michael
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Comment #1Joey Should get Jailed the video which was shown on the news last night shows how much of a thug he is. I would jail him if i was the judge.
He will probably get off with it because of the money he has.
Nev
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:27 AM
Comment #2hes got a good lawyer … thats why he did it lol
his lawyer may have just saved his career!
Mac
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Comment #3No transfer news yet. I live and work in Liverpool as a few of you know. But i actually work in one of Liverpools prisons. The report in the Journal that Barton may be gettin released on a tag as early as Sunday is nonsense. Firstly prisons do not release on Sundays never have never will. Secondly even if he did just recieve a suspended sentence he is still serving a 6 month sentece which in actual fact is only 3 he’ll serve the rest of it in the community. So he’s seved 6 weeks he has another 6 weeks to serve or so you’d think but the goverment in it’s wisdom lets offenders out 18 days before the they are due for release so if Joey does qualify for this and i think he will he has another 3 weeks to serve.
The Entertainers
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Comment #4Ed you can bet his lawyer has stated the two incidents are all part of ONE problem Barton has.
He is an alcoholic and has anger problems, but your worship he is doing very well at Sporting Chance and due to this we see no further problems with Barton in the furture. Add mitigating circumstances and Roberts your fathers brother……its crap……your better off in the US Ed
dare say they would have gased him over there!
dan_from_france
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Comment #5it just shows no justice in the world one could say it like the michael jackson case where he had all these accounts of crimes but didnt get done for any of them. get rid joey
Davies
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Comment #6I’d say lock him up and throw away the key, but The Entertainers rightly pointed out in response to the last article about this, we are not the judge here.
The law is a ridiculous thing. There’s no point in being annoyed with Barton for the fact that he could skip out of prison way earlier than he should, that’s down the idiot that has been put in charge of the hearing.
What I will say is that Joey Barton is nothing short of scum. I do not want him associated with my club any further. I really hope that Mike Ashley puts his foot down on this one and gets rid of this disgusting excuse for a human being.
Sorry Keegan, you are too soft on this idiot. He will betray you if you get your way and are allowed to keep him on.
newcastle mad chris
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Comment #7sack him he is crap
Faustino
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Comment #8I think a few of you need to have night out in Newcastle once in a while. We’d have about 700 people a week getting sent to prison a week if people got sent down for things like that.
Not defending him by any means but he’s no different to any other charva out there.
BILLY - B
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Comment #9As a father and a grandfather i must seriously consider my support of Newcastle United if they keep on there books Joey Barton.
He is a thug and what kind of message is been sent to young impresionable fans especialy in the light of what is going on with teenage violence. If Newcastle United are a resposible club they must sack him.
newcastle mad chris
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Comment #10if we sac barton (which we should) who are w gonna et to replace him
Neil
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Comment #11Dear Ed,
Just responded under the other blog entry, but worth repeating here. As a teacher in Leeds 8 years ago I remember the stench from the Bowyer/Woodgate affair and how it sullied the club’s reputation. Since then, we have taken on both these and other assorted bad eggs.
It is time for the Board to take a stand and set youngsters the right example. We should terminate his contract and hold on to his registration.
Newcastle needs to regain its reputation from the Keegan era. It’ll take time, but now would be a good start.
Regards,
Neil
PS There is another guy with same name as me, but he has a thing with a Joe Blow?
The Entertainers
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Comment #12Bill B
dont let one idiot spoil the greatest past time.
You have lived through the great times Gullit, Dagleish, Souness and Fat Freddy.
We’re made of stern stuff up here.
Besides didnt Shearer do something similar to Gillespie and Dyer and Bowyer and Bellamy and Carver!
At least we’re not filling in our own players and staff anymore!
Keep the faith Bill B
newcastle mad chris
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Comment #13we should try to sign daniel de rossi from roma for about 10 milion
Dannufc
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Comment #14Sack him and we really do have a shite midfield!
Bertie
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Comment #15Sorry Faustino, but I think if anyone were at work and launched an unprovoked attak on their workmate beating them unconcious then they would be nicked and hopefully bange dup. This wasn’t a night out. Joey wasn’t pissed (or were Man City training sessions that slack – I doubt it with Stuart Pearce running them).
I don’t see that alcohoism has anything to do with the training ground incident for which he has just been let off. Bloody outrageous if you ask me.
Nick Dryden
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Comment #16faustino he’s on 60k a week, probably makes him a bit different to all the other charva scum.
But the law is too soft on everything.
newcastle mad chris
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Comment #17who do u think king kev should try to
sign
true
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Comment #18There is absaloutly no chance that MA will allow this animal to pull on the shirt of Necastle again.
MA will look to hinder this idiot as much as posible but make no mistake he will NEVER play for the toon again.
bowburnmag
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Comment #19Faustino, of course he his man. He’s a famous “charva”. People like Barton aren’t necessarily encouraged by seeing 700 other charvas kicking hell out of each other but you can be damned sure a professional footballer being beemed out to millions of prospective like-minded idiots on YouTube does little to discourage similar behaviour by them. They’re making an example of him, because showing Joe Charva battering Jimmy Charva on YouTube or the news has little impact on the watching nation. Sure they’ll have a morally-upstanding passing moan about it but won’t be up in arms about it like they are with Barton, causing the resultant poor publicity. By the way, one excuse for Barton’s behaviour is his drink problem. Was he drunk in training when he punched Dabo’s lights out? For me, he’s just far too handy with his fists and it reflects badly on us. We should send him to Glenn McCrory’s new school, he might do alright with some training and at least it’d be legal him getting paid to punch people in the face.
newcastle mad chris
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Comment #20we should try to sign Van Der Vaart from hamburg for no more than 15 million.We should also try to sign swp for no more than 10 million
Jim
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Comment #21Billy -B has a very good point. Barton has tarnished the Toons reputation, mostly because of his re offending AFTER the Dabo trial. His example is one to hide. I think we should use the forthcoming conviction to get shot.
On a brighter note, this is just the time to repair the gap left by his departure. Here’s hoping for a bumper transfer season.
Don’t believe the hype!
newcastle mad chris
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Comment #22I wonder if bolton are still interested in barton
Ross
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Comment #23DeRidder just gone to wigan
darren grech MALTA
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Comment #24i’m darren grech from malta.
i prefare to see newcastle utd go to signing new players then seeing our name conected with stories like barton’s.we are always talking about the same stories.ameobi & barton and nothing new.
our club is lost in the middle of the ocean.
mike ashley is realy wise man and he took control to meke money and then sell us again.
we need to make signings if we want to say that newcastle utd is a big club
thats my opinion
Davies
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Comment #25Accoing to Tribal Football Bolton are still interested on a loan season. That’s coming from Tribal Football though, so it might as well have come from Anal Oliver.
Maybe we should have tried the loan thing…..
sas
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Comment #26You’re right Ed, this is nonsense, and you should be very careful about publishing this sort of rubbish.
If Barton pleaded not-guilty, he would have had to face a trial and be found guilty or not guilty by jury. If he were found guilty at that point, the judge would (more than likely) throw the book at him.
If he pleads not-guilty, he does not face a trial by jury, and the sentence he receives will not be as severe. I cannot believe any magistrate in the land would make a deal with an accused, so you should probably edit your story above, because it could be libelous.
Judges don’t want to send people to jail. Firstly, it’s extremely expensive, secondly they’re overcrowded, and thirdly, jail is not a good place, and can really mess people up for the rest of their lives, doing a lot more harm than good. A lot of judges will look to see if the defendant has shown corrective behavior, if they show genuine remorse etc. Judging by his comments above, I believe that is the judges position.
We’ve all seen the state of Dabo afterwards, so the chances of him being not-guilty are non-existent, unless his defence relied on some loophole. The most reasonable explanation for him pleading not guilty up until this point would have been to delay the date of the trial until after the season, thus allowing him to play for us. I’m sure Chris Mort and the club would have been well aware of this.
Given that he is currently detained at Her Majestys Pleasure, it’s really going to count against him, but this judge does seem the type to reward corrective behaviour. He could give a sentence to run concurrently with the one he’s serving now, or community service, which would be more beneficial to Barton, the club, the local community and the prison service.
I’d strongly advise you to change the title and content of your article Ed.
jeffa
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Comment #27he’s gone according to the sun
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1363000.ece
The Entertainers
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Comment #28Ok i’m sick of talking about Barton, what will be will be!
Moving on to further depressing news, as long as our squad remains the same size all day, i think we can safely say that the recruitment team as FAILED in any contract talks. I was kind of hoping we would hear something today and Wise and co had done all the hard work proir to the preseason.
I guess not. Shame on a day when we could all do with some good news!
Ross
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Comment #29i agree entertainers, said something very similar in a previous story.
its a real shame that on the opening day of the transfer window, we’re releasing statements about jailed squad members, as opposed to new squad members.
AngerOfTheNorth
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Comment #30I agree with everyone that he´s tarnished our name – sod football and having a good midfield, the club has a responsibility to set an example here. However my view is that he´s currently a problem for both football and society – he isn´t going to vanish into thin air if we sack him. He´ll maim other teammates and innocent passers-by. As his current club, who bought him and where he is now settled, do we not have a duty to try to rehabilitate him, if it´s possible? Whether he plays or not I don´t care – in fact surely he should have a lengthy internal ban…
Mac
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Comment #31Well according to the Sun he’s been sacked. I for one am glad. Yes he is a good player and could have helped NUFC but we must look at the bigger picture, the guy is scum,absolute total scum and i don’t want to see him in the black and white shirt ever again. Sack him keep his regestration and never allow this piece of shit to play football again
Ross
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Comment #32and also..i can understand people saying we cant afford to sack him, if we do our midfield is crap etc etc, but i dont think this is the time to be looking at the squad for next season.
yes it may have been weak in recent years, but not as weak as our reputation as a club throughout the rest of the premiership.
i think ashley needs to make an example of barton and send a message to all other teams that we are no longer a club to be taken for a ride.
Martins
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Comment #33Ross: Was it you who had some news on transfers? You said something about Derdiyok when you mentioned it I think.
Matty
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Comment #34I say get rid of him, he was coming on good under Keegan however he can be replaced. What will other clubs think of us if he stays playing for us each week?
It was only in January I was defending him, thinking it was all going to resovle itself, having a go at someone who booed him – if I see that person again I will apologise and perhaps join in with booing, something I have never done to a player wearing black and white.
I hope The Sun are successful with their campaign to ban him from football in all honesty. But then we will just have another charv thug with money behind him.
Hadrian
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Comment #35If you watch the video, you can clearly see the lad he hit being smug and strutting upto him onbviously baiting barton .
not defending the lad, but if it was me , the cocky git would have got the same treatment .
were all being abit to judgemental on joey , ill bet the lad deserved the smack .
tommy
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Comment #36Surely they would be revealed in a press conference or something? and seeing as there isn’t one, i see no new players coming today.
I will be extremely dissapointed if we don’t see anyone today, all my faith in the recruitment team will disappear as i really did think someone would be unveiled. If they aren’t, to me, it shows that we havn’t been successfull in bringing in players in because surely if we had, we would have heard by now considering it is July 1st and the transfer window is now open.
ObaFan2
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Comment #37Mac, I hear what u say but is the time he spent on remand deducted from his sentence? If so it may explain the earlier release date.
The Sun seem to know it all …………not !
Frankieboy
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Comment #38Sack the judge . It’s simple.
Some of their actions over the years are beyond belief.releasing murderers and rapists and the like to commit similar offences again and again.
Frankieboy
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Comment #39Obafan
Yeh time spent on remand is deducted from sentence as it is all classed as part of the sentence.
Lets hope the Sun is right for once eh.
Whitey
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Comment #40At least we have more Squad Depth, try and look at the positives here