Joey Barton assault trial delayed after wife writes letter to prosecutors

Joey Barton has been accused of beating his wife (Yui Mok/PA)

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton’s trial for allegedly assaulting his wife during a drunken row has been delayed after she wrote a letter to prosecutors in a bid to “exculpate” her husband, a court has heard.

The former Premier League footballer’s barrister Simon Csoka QC said Georgia Barton now claims she was injured accidentally when friends intervened in the argument with her husband after drinking “four or five bottles of wine each”.