Distin fined for Barton trial no-show

Premier League footballer Sylvain Distin was today fined £2,000 (€2,507) for failing to attend the aborted assault trial of former team-mate Joey Barton.

The Frenchman was warned he could have faced a jail term if his absence had led to a delay in court proceedings.

Distin, 30, ignored a hand-delivered summons to appear in court and flew to Crete for a holiday with his family days before the hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on June 30.

The Portsmouth defender was required to give verbal evidence after witnessing the training ground bust-up at Manchester City last May in which Barton attacked Ousmane Dabo.

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told Distin his non-appearance would have halted the case if Barton had not changed his plea to guilty and a custodial sentence could have followed.