Former midfielder Joey Barton is facing serious assault allegations after reportedly attacking the founder and headteacher of NexGen Academy at the Huyton and Prescot Golf Club in Liverpool on Sunday, 8 March.
Aside from Barton, Gary O'Grady was also charged. Both are facing charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm (GBH).
Barton was denied bail for his role in the incident. O'Grady, on the other hand, was released on the condition that he would not set foot at the golf club or make contact with the victim or the named witness. Both are scheduled to appear before the court again on 7 April, The Guardian reported.
As of this writing, it remains unclear what triggered the incident. However, it remains that the victim, Kelly Lynch, is dealing with serious injuries to his face and body. Regardless, the NexGen Academy founder is reportedly in stable condition, Sky News reported.
However, there is a chance that Lynch may suffer irreversible injuries to his eyesight. Depending on the findings of the investigation, Barton and O'Grady could be facing more problems. Both have vehemently denied the charges against them.
Barton's Legal Mess Worsens
Already in a big mess, Barton got more bad news headed his way. This was after it was learned that the 43-year-old was ordered to pay former England footballer Eni Aluko more than £300,000 in damages and legal costs for libel over social media, BBC News reported.
It turns out that Barton was dealing with another legal battle for two controversial social media posts in 2024. The two posts claimed of Barton claimed that Aluko was cynically seeking to exploit her status as an alleged victim of racism and bullying according to barrister Gervase de Wilde.
However, it turns out that those two posts mentioned were part of many others. In total, De Wilde detailed how Barton put up 48 posts against Aluko on his X account. He branded this as a public campaign of vilification against Aluko, resulting in the 39-year-old native of Nigeria dealing with enormous distress.
'Mr Barton's campaign caused Ms Aluko enormous distress. When she sought to defend herself against Mr Barton's conduct, and that of his followers, he criticised and attacked her for doing so,' De Wilde stated.
Settlement With Eni Aluko
According to the court order, Barton needs to pay Aluko £339,000, with the first £100,000 including interest. Further, these should be settled no later than 24 March.
However, Barton can still appeal. Justice Nicholas Lavender has given the 43-year-old seven days to ask him to change the order. Considering he is now remanded in custody and given no bail, any request he may want to make may only be possible if channelled through a representative.
For Aluko, the verdict is a big sigh of relief. All that matters to her right now is that the issue with Barton is a closed book.
'I'm glad it's the end,' Aluko said.
Previous Assault Cases by Barton
As for Barton, getting into trouble is nothing new. Before this incident with Lynch, the 43-year-old was involved in several assault cases in the past. One of them happened in 2021 when Barton reportedly assaulted his wife in Kew, London. He was found guilty in March 2025 and handed a 12-week suspended prison sentence.
In 2019, Barton was involved in a couple of assault cases as well. One involved Daniel Stendel before a game between his team, Fleetwood Town, and Barnsley. He was charged with causing bodily harm following a post-match incident but was later found not guilty.
Barton does have a history of legal issues, shockingly plenty tied to assault. Hence, it will be interesting to see how this case involving Lynch plays out. A glimpse of things to come for the 43-year-old is likely to be clearer in his next court date.
