Joey Barton’s luck finally ran out today as the long arm of the law caught up with the Premierships worst serial offender. Barton was sentenced to 6 months in prison at Liverpool crown courts for assaulting 2 men in the space of 5 drunken minutes on a pedestrianised street in Liverpool city centre. Barton like all good professionals was enjoying a ‘quiet night on the town’ just after Christmas with his cousin Nadine Wilson and younger brother Andrew Barton.

Unfortunately the Barton family’s idea of a quiet night involves drinking 10 pints and 5 bottles of lager, and washing it down with a McDonalds, which is where the assaults took place. The Barton’s became involved in a number of verbal exchanges with different groups as they left the fast food shop and moments later Joey was caught on CCTV punching an unidentified man to the ground then mounting him to punch him 5 times before Nadine threw McDonalds on him and Joey punched him in the face a further 15 times. A couple of minutes later Barton attacked a 16 year old boy punching him in the mouth and breaking his teeth. Judge Henry Globe QC sentenced the midfielder and passed judgement on his actions:

“It was a violent and cowardly act. Without doubt, the most serious of the three offenders is you. You were restrained by others but ignored them and acted in an extremely violent and aggressive manner. You have a high profile as a footballer and you know that draws attention to you. Yet you drank to excess and behaved in an aggressive, disgraceful manner.”

On top of his 6 month jail term Barton was ordered to pay £2,500 damages to the boy whose teeth he smashed and his brother and cousin were both handed suspended sentences. Barton still has a pending court case for the assault of teammate Ousmane Dabo in a training ground altercation which left the French International with a detached retina and almost left him blind in one eye. Barton’s other brother Michael is also serving a prison term for the racist axe murder of black teenager Anthony Walker which shocked and appalled the country in 2005.