Newcastle United’s England midfielder Joey Barton this week escaped a second prison term when a lenient court gave him a suspended sentence and 200 hours of community service for a vicious assault on French player Ousmane Dabo. Now Dabo, who was attacked by Barton at their former club Manchester City’s training ground last year, has heavily criticized Newcastle for failing to sack the still jailed player.
Dabo has said that Newcastle are “lacking ethics and morals” for announcing that they intend to hold talks with Barton once he is released from his current jail sentence. He will soon be eligible for parole after serving almost two months of a six-month sentence for assaulting two men in Liverpool city center last December. At that time, he was still on bail for the Dabo attack.
“English clubs teach you lots of lessons but in this case they [Newcastle] lack ethics and morals,” said Dabo. “Newcastle have invested a lot in this guy and they do not want to lose money. The club does not give a damn about the law and that truly shocks me.” Dabo was punched unconscious by his former teammate during the training ground assault, for which Barton this week received a four-month sentence suspended for two years, as well as 200 hours of community service.