Why anyone would release belligerent psycho Joey Barton from jail is beyond us. But sure enough, Newcastle head coach Nigel Peterson has confirmed that Barton has returned to kicking shins and busting balls on the pitch after he was arrested for beating the crap out of some guy at a Liverpool nightclub in late December.

“The bail rulings are in place and at some point Joey had to be re-introduced to training because, at the end of the day, he’s one of our players and it’s a part of his rehabilitation to get back involved,” said Pearson. “He’s got back in the last couple of days to assess his fitness and we will go from there.”

Barton’s an athlete at the end of the day, and we all know that takes precedence over any guy’s busted shnoz. Now if they could just get the judge to rule that Barton kicking the shit out of someone was a silly accident, this time and those three other times, then let bygones be bygones, right? Just convince Barton to convince everyone he wont do this again:

The world probably has more luck of Osama Bin Laden turning himself in than Joey Barton agreeing to keeping his hands to himself.

Barton back in training [Setanta]
Image [Sky]