A former footballer has been found guilty of assaulting his wife at their family home.
Joey Barton, who previously played for Manchester City, has been found guilty of kicking his wife in the head at their home in south west London in June 2021.
He has been found guilty at Westminster magistrates court this afternoon.
Barton assaulted his wife Georgia, 38, at their home after drinking with two other couples while their children slept upstairs.
The court previously heard the argument started after Barton threatened to fight his wife’s brother.
He pushed his wife to the floor and kicked her in the head, leaving her with a lump on her forehead and a bleeding nose.
Mrs Barton was filmed on police body worn cameras telling officers she had been ‘pushed down and kicked about.’
She dialled 999 shortly after 11pm to report she’d been hit by her husband at their home and said she had a bloody nose during the call.
When asked: ‘Did he hit you anywhere else?’ Mrs Barton replied: ‘Just in the face’.
Police arrived at the address 25 minutes later, where an officer’s body-worn footage showed Mrs Barton saying she had been ‘pushed down and kicked about and stuff.’
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Barton admitted getting into an argument with his wife but said nothing ‘physical’ had happened.
Mrs Barton later denied that her husband had hit or kicked her, having previously sent a letter to prosecutors retracting her allegations, but the High Court decided he should still face trial.
She claimed she sustained her injuries when friends tried to separate her and her husband during the verbal argument.
Mrs Barton said in the letter, written in 2022: ‘My clear recollection now is Joseph did not assault me, I was just very angry with him at the time.
‘I do not support this prosecution at all and have said from the outset that I do not.
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‘My relationship with my husband is a very good one, it has always been a good one.
‘Please accept my word: I am not a victim, I have never been a victim of violence by Joseph.’
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring has now convicted Barton of assault by beating.
He rejected Barton’s account as ‘vague’ and found him guilty after a two-day trial, sentencing him to a 12-week suspended sentence.
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