Joey Barton leaves jail
Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton was released from jail today.
Barton, 25, left Strangeways prison in Manchester at 11am after serving 74 days of a six-month sentence for beating up a teenager in Liverpool city centre last December.
He was jailed on May 20 after pleading guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to assault and affray.
Today the £40,000-a-week former Manchester City player enjoyed his first taste of freedom after weeks in the cells.
Barton, wearing jeans and a jumper and carrying a holdall, shook hands with a friend waiting for him outside the prison gates.
He made no comment to reporters before getting into a waiting silver Land Rover and being driven off.
