Joey Barton’s domestic abuse trial could continue

Prosecutors have asked judges to order the retrial of controversial former footballer Joey Barton on domestic abuse charges after criminal proceedings against him were dropped. The former Bristol Rovers manager has been accused of assaulting his wife Georgia after the couple drank “four or five bottles of wine”. He was due to stand trial at a magistrates’ court in 2022, but the case was adjourned after Ms Barton sent a letter to prosecutors withdrawing the charges.

A judge then ordered the proceedings to be dropped over fears a trial would be unfair to Mr Barton after prosecutors said they did not intend to ask Ms Barton to testify in court. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson is now appealing the decision at the High Court in London, with lawyers arguing on Wednesday 15 May that a fair trial “was possible”.

Tom Little KC, representing the DPP, said in written submissions: “The appellant submits that the judge erred in principle in concluding that, by refusing to call the applicant to give evidence, the prosecution deliberately manipulated the trial to to deprive the defense of an opportunity to obtain evidence that undermined the prosecution’s case.

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“The prosecution, consistent with its policy on prosecuting domestic abuse cases, had to strike a sensitive and careful balance between the expressed interests of Georgia Barton and the public interest in prosecuting cases of alleged domestic violence where there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, although the applicant does not claim and is unwilling to testify for the prosecution.”

In court, Mr Little said: “Simply the judge was not allowed an adjournment on any view of the facts before him and the case should be returned to the trial court for trial.”

Mr Barton was manager of Bristol Rovers at the time of the trial and alleged assault, having previously played for the likes of Manchester City, Newcastle United and French side Marseille during his career.

He was accused of grabbing his wife by the neck and kicking her in the head during an argument outside their home in Kew, south-west London, where they had been with two other couples on June 2, 2021. He denied a charge of assault by battering after he was arrested by police at his home, about Ms Barton being left with a golf ball-sized bruise on her forehead and a bleeding nose.

But Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court heard in March 2022 that Ms Barton wrote to prosecutors a month before the scheduled trial to claim she was accidentally injured when friends intervened in an argument between the pair after they both they drank “four or five bottles of wine”.

She was not due to be called as a prosecution witness during the trial due to fears she would give a false account of events, but Mr Barton’s lawyers said this would leave him at a disadvantage as it meant he could not be questioned because of inconsistencies in her evidence.

District Judge Andrew Sweet adjourned the case and stopped criminal proceedings in October 2022, saying “it would be unfair for Mr Barton to stand trial”.

Mr Little said a stay of proceedings was a “last resort” and the case should be allowed to reopen.

Simon Csoka KC, representing the former footballer, said prosecutors had made a “deliberate decision” to ask police not to speak to Ms Barton about her evidence and that the refusal to interview her or call her as a witness was a “unfair tactics”.

He said: “The Crown could have called Ms Barton and the Crown could have asked permission to treat her as a hostile witness, but that would have been it. It was not the crown’s decision.”

In written submissions, he continued: “To paraphrase inappropriate language in the application, the Crown Prosecution Service brought the administration of justice into disrepute by engaging in unfair tactics and interfering with the officer’s clear duty to investigate. The decision to issue a suspension was a reasonable one, even if another judge might have decided otherwise.”

Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Saini will deliver their judgment at a later date.