Barton cleared of assault charge over tunnel incident after match
Former Premier League midfielder Joey Barton has been cleared of pushing over a rival manager at the end of a match, leaving him bloodied and with a broken tooth.
When the Bristol Rovers manager gave evidence last week, Barton, 39, denied it was him who shoved then-Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel in the tunnel after a League One match between his Fleetwood team and the South Yorkshire sideatOakwellonApril132019.
Mr Stendel told a jury at Sheffield Crown Court how he was walking down the tunnel in the corner of the ground after his side’s 4-2 victory when he was knocked over by a push frombehind,causinghimtohit hisfaceonthemetalstructure.
Video footage shown repeatedly during the trial showed Mr Stendel entering the tunnel followed by Barton, jogging, a moment later.
The jury took under two hours to find Barton not guilty of one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a week-long trial.
Afterleavingthecourt,Barton said: “I think the verdict speaks for itself.”
Asked how he felt, he said: “Better than I did before.”
He left building with his solicitor, who said his client did not wish to comment.
The 10-person jury heard how the incident in the tunnel happened after a second half which featured tensions between the coaching staff of thetwosides,withFleetwood’s assistant manager, Clint Hill, receiving a yellow card.
Jurors were shown mobile phone footage of the handshake between the two managers at the end of the match during which, Mr Stendel told thejury,Bartonwasaggressive towards him.
Barton admitted using “industrial language” during the handshake, but denied he was aggressive, and said there had not been tensions between the two managers during the match.
He explained that he had onlytriedtoexplaintoMrStendel that, if they did not control theircoachingstaff,theymight bepersonallyliabletosubstantial fines.
Barton pointed out that, after the handshake, he had a friendly chat with a Barnsley player about his time playing for Marseille and also the referee, before he headed for the tunnel.
He said he began to jog because he wanted to get into the dressing room ahead of his players.
And he said the video footage showed him weaving through the crowded tunnel towards the stand.