Premiership footballer Joey Barton freed on bail after all
Footballer Joey Barton will be freed from jail after all after bail was granted by a Crown Court judge.
The 25-year-old Newcastle United and England midfielder, who is facing charges of actual bodily harm and affray, has been in custody since he was arrested on December 27.
Following an hour-long hearing in chambers before Judge David Swift at Liverpool Crown Court, Barton was told he can be freed from Liverpool Prison.
No conditions of bail were released by the court.
Barton's solicitor Daniel Weed said: "Mr Joseph Barton has been granted bail with conditions until he appears at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on January 16."
Earlier today the Newcastle midfielder Barton had been told he would be remaining in jail after a court refused to grant him bail.
The 25-year-old appeared before Liverpool magistrates charged with assault and affray.
Barton, of Foxbank Close, Widnes, Cheshire, has been in custody since he was arrested in the early hours of December 27 in Liverpool city centre.
The footballer appeared via video link from Liverpool Prison dressed in a grey prison issue jumper and jeans.
During the hearing the midfielder - with one cap for England - stood and listened as the assault charge against him was upped from a Section 39 common assault to a Section 47 assault - actual bodily harm.
It has been alleged that Barton and a group of friends were involved in two seperate, early morning incidents following a row with another group inside a McDonald's restaurant in Liverpool.
Barton will stand trial at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on 16 January.
Barton's career has been plagued by a series of disciplinary problems.
In July 2005, Barton was sent home from Manchester City's tour of Thailand after a bar fight with a teenage Everton fan.
He was released on bail after allegedly attacking former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo on the training ground in May.
He was fined six weeks wages in 2004 for putting a lit cigar into the eye of a young team-mate, Jamie Tandy, at City's Christmas party.
