Joey Barton Remains in Custody Until March After Bail Refusal
Joey Barton will spend Christmas in prison after a judge refused his latest bid for bail, leaving the former Premier League midfielder behind bars at HMP Liverpool until at least March.
The 44-year-old was due to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court last week, but the case has been pushed back to 8 March next year. He is charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent over an alleged assault in March on Kevin Lynch, who was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition with reported injuries to his face and ribs.
Barton, who played for Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers and won a single England cap, has been in custody since his arrest, according to The Mirror. His legal team tried to change that on Monday, 7 October.
The push failed.
An hour-long bail application by defence counsel Tim Forte KC ended with the judge turning it down. Barton appeared via video link from HMP Liverpool for the hearing, wearing a grey Columbia fleece and glasses, as the court was told he would remain in custody.
This was not his first appearance in the case. On Wednesday, 2 September – his 44th birthday – Barton had stood in courtroom 42 as the matter was adjourned and Judge David Potter remanded him further into custody.
Next Steps
Judge Potter has now set out the road ahead.
“Mr Barton, your case will next be mentioned on December the 11th. In the meantime, you are remanded in custody through to the next date,” he told the former midfielder, confirming the December hearing as a pre-trial review.
The full trial is expected to last up to two weeks. With Barton already having spent six months in prison and facing another six-month wait until the rearranged 8 March date, he is staring at a full year behind bars before a jury even begins to consider the allegations.
When the new trial date was fixed, Barton appeared in the dock in person, this time in a navy blue suit and tie, blue shirt, glasses and short greying hair. Judge Potter addressed him again: “Mr Barton, I have now fixed your trial to take place on Monday, the 8th of March. In the meantime, you are remanded in custody.”
The court has previously heard details of the night at the centre of the case. Lynch, 51, had been socialising with Barton at Huyton and Prescot Golf Club on 8 March before the alleged assault. Lynch was later reportedly found covered in blood on Fairway, near the entrance to the club.
Lynch is a well-known figure in local football circles. He has managed City of Liverpool, Marine and Prescot Cables, and away from the touchline he founded NexGen Academy in Dovecot, where he works as headteacher at a school for children with additional needs.
Barton, originally from Huyton and now living at Fox Bank Close in Widnes, has moved from dressing rooms to media in recent years, most recently fronting a podcast. The next time he speaks in public, though, is likely to be from the witness box.
