Newcastle to hold talks with Barton

The footballer Joey Barton was today spared jail for knocking out a teammate in an attack that left his victim looking "like the Elephant Man".

Barton at first claimed self defence but yesterday admitted for the first time to punching Ousmane Dabo to the ground and continuing to rain blows on him as lay bloody and barely conscious, in an incident at the Manchester City training ground in May 2007.

Today a court in Manchester gave him a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years for the attack, sparing him further jail time.

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told him: “As a professional footballer you are someone who is talented and greatly idolised by young and old alike whether you are playing at Manchester City and now at Newcastle United.

“You are constantly in the public eye. You have a high profile, there would be instances of provocations ... being an idol brings with it responsibilities which you have to carry with you all the time.

“You want to be setting an example, particularly to those who idolise you, particularly youngsters who look up to you.”

Newcastle have confirmed they will meet Barton to discuss his future, amid reports that he had been sacked.

"Newcastle United notes the sentence passed to Joey Barton at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court today," a statement said.

"The club now intends to hold discussions with Joey and his representatives at the earliest possible opportunity.

"Until such time that this meeting has taken place, there will be no further comment from the club."

Barton is already in prison serving six months for affray and assault after a fight outside a McDonald's restaurant in Liverpool city centre on December 27 last year.

Greater Manchester Police released CCTV footage of the incident in Liverpool earlier today. Barton is seen punching his victim off his feet then straddling and continuing to hit him as he sits on the ground.

He was jailed for six months on May 20 for assault and affray following the fight during a Christmas drinking spree with friends and family, when an ankle injury had forced him to miss the Boxing Day game in which his Newcastle United team-mates were beaten 1-0 at Wigan.

Barton, 25, and his cousin, Nadine Wilson, 27, and brother Andrew Barton, 20, were involved in two violent incidents during the early hours of December 27 last year.

The minute-long footage shows Barton, in a light blue shirt, throwing the first punch against an unidentified man and knocking him to the ground. The victim gets up and Barton knocks him down a second time. The player is then seen straddling the man and punched him up to 20 times.

Barton was then pulled away and the victim gets off the ground. Moments later the player attacked Jordan Spencer, 16, leaving him with broken teeth. Barton was also ordered to pay £2,500 compensation to Mr Spencer.

The CCTV operators monitoring the city centre alerted police after seeing an incident at about 5.30am.

Wilson was given a six-month sentence for ABH and two months for affray, suspended for two years. She was also given a 12-month supervision order and instructed to carry out 12-months unpaid work.

Andrew Barton was given a four-month sentence for common assault, suspended for two years, and a 12-month supervision order.

Barton was involved in several unsavoury incidents while at City but Kevin Keegan, the Newcastle manager, said on his return to Tyneside in January that he would support the player "100 per cent and give him any help we can".

There were reports that Barton stubbed a lit cigar into the eye of a former City reserve-team player at a Christmas party and brawled in a Bangkok hotel with a 15-year-old and Richard Dunne, then a team-mate.

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