Barton is sentenced for assault

Joey Barton is currently serving six months for assault

Footballer Joey Barton has been given a four-month sentence suspended for two years at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court for assaulting a team-mate.

The midfielder, now with Newcastle United, repeatedly punched Ousmane Dabo when they were both at Manchester City.

Barton admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm - he is currently serving a six-month jail term for another attack while on bail.

Newcastle United said it planned to meet Barton to discuss his future.

Discussions planned

A statement on the club's website said: "The club now intends to hold discussions with Joey and his representatives at the earliest possible opportunity.

"Until such time that this meeting has taken place, there will be no further comment from the club."

You are constantly in the public eye. Being an idol brings with it responsibilities which you have to carry with you all the time Judge Mushtaq Khokhar

Barton, 25, is in jail for an attack in Liverpool in which he punched a man.

For this latest incident, which happened in May last year, he has also been ordered to carry out 200 hours community service and must pay £3,000 compensation to Dabo as well as footing the prosecution costs.

On sentencing him, Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said: "As a professional footballer you are someone who is talented and greatly idolised by young and old alike whether you are playing at Manchester City and now at Newcastle United.

"You are constantly in the public eye. You have a high profile, there would be instances of provocations ... being an idol brings with it responsibilities which you have to carry with you all the time.

"You want to be setting an example, particularly to those who idolise you, particularly youngsters who look up to you."

The court heard that Liverpool-born Barton punched former Manchester City colleague Ousmane Dabo up to five times, leaving him unconscious and covered in blood on the ground.

Knocked unconscious

He had claimed he acted in self-defence but changed his plea to guilty yesterday ahead of a scheduled trial in Manchester.

Dabo was left unconscious and covered in blood following the assault

The pair clashed after a simmering row during a training session on 1 May 2007.

Dabo, 31, pushed Barton's shoulder and was knocked unconscious.

Eyewitnesses recalled Barton getting on top of the player and repeatedly hitting him.

Dabo was treated in hospital for the effects of head trauma, an inflamed eye and bruised eyelids.

He also suffered from headaches for three weeks and missed several matches.

Barton was sold by Manchester City to Newcastle United in a £5.8m deal last summer, signing a five-year contract.

'Explosive' violence

Richard Vardon, prosecuting, described the incident at City's Carrington training ground as an "explosive combination of football and violence".

It is the third time Barton was in court during 2008.

In May he was jailed for the Liverpool attack which was caught on CCTV.

Later that month he was cleared of vandalising a taxi on a night out in Merseyside.

After Barton admitted the training ground assault on Monday, police released CCTV footage of the Liverpool attack for which he was jailed.

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