Joey Barton Remains in Custody as Trial Delayed to March
Joey Barton will spend Christmas behind bars at HMP Liverpool after a judge rejected his latest bid for bail.
The former Premier League midfielder, 44, had been due to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court last week, but the case has now been pushed back to March 8 next year, extending his time in custody.
Bail rejected as trial pushed to March
Barton faces a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent over an alleged serious assault in March. The alleged victim, 51-year-old Kevin Lynch, was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition, reportedly with injuries to his face and ribs.
Barton has been held on remand since his arrest. According to The Mirror, he has already spent six months in custody and now faces at least another six with the trial delayed.
On Monday, October 7, his defence counsel, Tim Forte KC, launched an hour-long bail application. It failed. The court refused to release Barton, who appeared via video link from HMP Liverpool, wearing a grey Columbia fleece and glasses.
Judge David Potter made the position clear.
“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 said.
That December hearing will serve as a pre-trial review, with the full trial expected to last up to two weeks once it begins on March 8.
Birthday hearing and extended remand
This is not the first time Barton has faced the judge in recent weeks. He previously appeared in courtroom 42 on Wednesday, September 2 — his 44th birthday — when the case was adjourned and he was further remanded.
On that occasion, he was in the dock in person, wearing glasses, a navy blue suit and tie, a blue shirt and sporting short, greying hair. Judge Potter again addressed him directly:
“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 revised timetable means Barton is set to spend around a year behind bars before a jury hears the evidence.
Alleged assault after golf club visit
The court has previously been told that Lynch had been socialising with Barton at Huyton and Prescot Golf Club on March 8, shortly before the alleged assault.
Lynch, a former non-league manager who has taken charge of City of Liverpool, Marine and Prescot Cables, was said to have been found covered in blood on Fairway, near the entrance to the golf club.
Away from football, Lynch founded NexGen Academy in Dovecot and serves as headteacher at a school for children with additional needs.
Barton, originally from Huyton and now living at Fox Bank Close in Widnes, most recently turned his hand to media work, hosting a podcast. His immediate future, though, lies not in the studio or on the touchline, but in a prison cell as he waits for a trial that could define the next chapter of his life.
