5 footballers who were sentenced to prison

#3 Joey Barton

Joey Barton has been a fiesty character both on and off the field

The Merseyside-born midfielder has been a fiery character on and off the pitch. He was sentenced to six months in prison by Liverpool Crown Court after being found guilty of assault in Liverpool. Barton was at that time playing for Newcastle and had gotten into a heated argument with a group of teenagers which led to the incident.

The midfielder had already had a drink too many and did not refrain from throwing a number of punches at the teenager, which left him with a broken tooth. This was less than a year after being suspended by his previous employers Manchester City for physically assaulting Ousmane Dabo in training.

He was released after serving less than 3 months in jail, a move which drew a lot of criticism from all quarters. However, like Tony Adams, Barton has straightened himself off the pitch, working with several agencies to help youngsters recover from alcoholism and drug abuse.