Former Manchester City player and ex-Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has been given a 12-week suspended prison sentence for assaulting his wife at their home in June 2021
Joey Barton has been handed a 12-week suspended prison sentence for assaulting his wife at their home in south-west London in June 2021. The former footballer, 42, attacked Georgia Barton at their home in Kew following a drunken night out.
The court heard that 38-year-old Georgia was left with a lump on her forehead and a bleeding nose after the incident. The pair had each been drinking alcohol with two other couples while their children slept upstairs, before having a row about a family matter. He then grabbed his wife and pushed her to the ground before kicking her in the head.
READ MORE: Joey Barton given suspended jail sentence after being found guilty of kicking wife in head
Over the years, Barton has been embroiled in his fair share of scandals, many of which centered around his views on women. Recently, the sportsman has made headlines for his sexist tirades against women in the sport on X, previously Twitter. In December 2023, Barton issued criticism after Mary Earps was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year. The gong represented the second consecutive year that a member of the women’s football team took home the trophy, with Beth Mead scooping it one year prior.
After Earps was named winner, Barton initially wrote on X: “Well done Mary”. However, he then appeared to perform a u-turn as he slammed the decision. The former Bristol Rovers manager said: “Sports Personality of the Year! More f****** nonsense. Well done to all involved.”
He added: “So the best sports person this year is… A Women Goalie. Lost in a couple of finals this year. Not won a sausage. So popular that Nike didn’t even sell a replica jersey before tournament. You telling me all those who jumped on that bandwagon, haven’t voted in the BBC nonsense? Good luck to Mary. Hope she makes a few quid.”
He then claimed that he would be able to beat Earps in a penalty shootout. Speaking about the goalkeeper’s heroics in the Euro final, he said: “That’s a bad penalty and she’s clearly off her line very early. No retake? SPOTY for that! Drop me out.” Barton then added: “I’d score 100 out of 100 penalties against Mary Earps. Any day of the week. Twice on a f****** Sunday.”
In January 2024 he claimed his crusade against women in men’s football was his “duty” to his great-grandfather and “thousands of men like him” who fought in the First World War. Following a spat with ex-pro and pundit Gary Neville, who hit out at Barton over his disgusting diatribe, Barton wrote on X: “I have a great grandfather who was gassed at Ypres in 1915.
“He received a military medal for bravery later in that war. Patrick Stanton is his name. Look up his citation if you choose. I have a duty to him. And the hundreds of thousands of men like him. Those who gave their lives, so you could have yours. I won’t stand idly by and let you tear down this great country. It’s not perfect but it’s definitely better than most places on this Earth.”
Social media users were left perplexed by Barton’s take. One wrote: “Many of us have had grandparents and parents who have fought and died (in wars) and they (would) be ashamed of you and the way you weaponise their sacrifice for your own miserable ends. For shame on you!”
Barton married his wife Georgia in 2019 and the pair tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at the Aynhoe Park country estate. Today, he was handed a 12-week suspended prison sentence for assaulting his wife in June 2021. The former footballer attacked following a drunken night out. Georgia had called police after the incident, saying her husband had “just hit me”, but later retracted her allegations in a letter sent to prosecutors.
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 call to police following the incident was “compelling evidence” of the assault.
Barton previously told the court he admitted getting into an argument with his wife, but denied that anything “physical” had happened. Simon Csoka, defending Barton, said it was not clear what the period of time was between Georgia 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.”
Barton was due to face trial in 2022 after pleading not guilty but it was halted when Georgia retracted her claims. The High Court subsequently ruled last year that the trial could go ahead and that the previous decision to drop the case was “wrong in principle.”
