BAD boy footballer Joey Barton has been seen pushing a wheelbarrow full of garden clippings as part of his punishment for attacking a fellow pro.

The 26-year-old was captured on camera clearing a community centre in Prudhoe, Northumberland. The £63,000-a-week player is mucking in with other convicts, spending up to eight hours each week piling rubbish into skips.

It is part of the sentence he was handed for attacking team-mate Ousmane Dabo while both were Manchester City players at the club's Carrington training complex.

Barton, from Widnes, was handed a suspended prison sentence and 200 hours community service for his savage attack on Dabo.

He chose to serve his community punishment at Prudhoe in Northumberland as he now plays for Newcastle United. He decided not to carry out the community service in Newcastle city centre close to the glare of the fans, media and the rest of the public.

The player reportedly was very quiet during his first week before he 'opened up' later on, although it was said he had not spoken to fellow cons about his past or football.

Barton has also been banned for six matches and fined £25,000 after pleading guilty to an FA charge of violent conduct over the same attack. He could be banned for a further six games if he shows any more violent behaviour on the pitch.

The midfielder's attack on May 1 last year left the French midfielder Dabo with several cuts and bruises as well as a suspected detached retina. The victim said it was so bad it left him 'looking like the elephant man'.

Barton was convicted earlier this year at a time when he was already serving time in prison for another attack on a teenager in Liverpool.

He is also being sued by former Manchester City team-mate Jamie Tandy, 24, after Barton allegedly stubbed a lit cigar in his face during City's Christmas party in 2004.

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