Joey Barton: Former footballer given 12-week suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of assaulting wife at their south-west London home

25 March 2025, 15:48 | Updated: 25 March 2025, 19:09

Former footballer Joey Barton has been handed a 12-week suspended prison sentence after he was found guilty of assaulting his wife at their home in June 2021.

Barton had denied the charge of assault by beating during an argument between the pair at their family home. Westminster Magistrates' Court was told that his wife, Georgia, suffered bleeding and bruising as a result of the incident.

The 42-year-old, who was capped once by England and played for Man City, Newcastle, Marseille, Burnley, Rangers and QPR, was in court to hear the verdict.

After leaving court, he told Sky Sports News he will appeal the verdict.

"I'm really disappointed with the magistrate's verdict," he said. "I intend to appeal this to the High Court and I have to respect that process in between, so that is all I can say on the matter."

The court previously heard Barton and his wife had each been drinking alcohol with two other couples while their children slept upstairs, before having a drunken row about a family matter.

He then grabbed his wife and pushed her to the ground before kicking her in the head.

Mrs Barton had called police immediately after the incident, saying her husband had "just hit me", but later sent a letter to prosecutors retracting her allegations.

At the same court on Tuesday, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring rejected Barton's account of events as "vague" as he convicted him of a single charge of assault by beating after a two-day trial.

Prosecutor Helena Duong told the court Mrs Barton's 999 call to police on the night of the incident was "compelling evidence" of the assault, as she had described it in "clear terms".

Mrs Barton was not as affected by alcohol as both she and Barton had suggested, the prosecutor said.

Ms Duong said Mrs Barton's bloody nose was "an injury that really requires an explanation", adding: "It was, plainly, something not caused by an accident."

Barton previously told the court he admitted getting into an argument with his wife, but denied that anything "physical" had happened.

He was arrested in his bedroom on the night of the incident, where he had been asleep and was still drunk, the trial was told.

Barton was taken to a local police station where he gave a no-comment interview.

Simon Csoka, defending Barton, said it was not clear what the period of time was between Mrs Barton receiving the injury and making the 999 call.

Referring to the lump sustained on her head, he told the court: "There are a number of circumstances where the injury may have been sustained accidentally."

The former footballer, of Widnes, Cheshire, was due to face trial at a magistrates' court in 2022 but the case was adjourned after Mrs Barton sent a letter to prosecutors retracting her allegations.

In the letter, she said her injuries had been caused by accident when a friend moved in to separate the pair.

The couple are still married and living together, the court heard.

Barton, wearing a black jacket, jumper and trousers and glasses, did not speak from the dock but was asked to stand as the verdict was given.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Joey Barton: Former footballer given 12-week suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of assaulting wife at their south-west London home