FA charge Joey Barton with violent conduct
Published 16:31 31/07/08 By By Dan Silver, Mirror.co.uk
The Football Association have charged Joey Barton with violent conduct over his assault on Ousmane Dabo 15 months ago.
The 25-year-old Newcastle midfielder was handed a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, on July 1 after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm on his former Manchester City team-mate Dabo.
The new charge from the FA comes as a result of that hearing at Manchester Crown Court after football's governing body received all the relevant documentation from the case.
Barton's punishment has yet to be decided, but the charge comes with no maximum sentence and, given the severity of the original incident, will likely result in a significant ban.
Newcastle responded to the charge by questioning why they should be penalised for an incident which took place so long ago, and while the player was at a different club.
The club said in a statement: "Newcastle United can confirm that it has received documentation from the Football Association stating that it is charging Joey Barton with misconduct in relation to the incident that occurred with Ousmane Dabo in May 2007, at a time when he was a registered player of Manchester City.
"The club has sought clarification from the Football Association as to why this decision has been reached now, given the incident occurred."
Barton has until August 13 to respond to the charge.
