In 2004, Joey Barton stubbed a cigar in the eye of Manchester City youth team player Jamie Tandy during the squad's Christmas party.
Tandy's career never took off, and was released by City soon after.
Tandy was recently in court, where he pleaded guilty to common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm towards his wife, and blamed his actions on the downward spiral he has endured since being stubbed in the eye by Barton.
Speaking on behalf of Tandy, Darren Prescott said:
Mr Tandy was an exceptionally talented footballer.
He was sufficiently talented that until the age of 23 he was contracted to Manchester City. That all came to an end during one particularly unpleasant and notorious night. It was a Christmas party, so this time of year has fairly unpleasant memories for him.
You might recall that a first-team player at that club notorious for his temper and not without convictions, stubbed out a cigar in the eye of Mr Tandy at the party. That man was a first-team regular at the time. The club effectively closed ranks around him, casting aside this young man who was not in the first team. He couldn't see very well for some weeks and consequently couldn't play.
Very shortly after that incident, which was not only deeply unpleasant or him but attained a certain notoriety he didn't want, he was loaned off to Copenhagan and found himself alone and lonely with his career and ambitions at that club effectively shot to pieces through no fault of his own.
He turned to drink.
Barton responded to these quotes with a series of stinging tweets:
He was a gobshite a long time before I went anywhere near him. How many times is a judge going to buy his shit? https://t.co/vTi9g8Cnag
— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 21, 2015
Reason he never made it was he was simply overweight and lacked desire and talent. Nobody to blame but himself.
— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 21, 2015
He forgets that he set my shirt on fire before I used him as an ashtray. Doesn't condone my reaction. But he was far from a innocent victim. — Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 21, 2015
How can you possibly hit women on multiple occasions and blame an incident a decade earlier. Men who hit women are nothing but shithouses.
— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 21, 2015
At the end of the day. In this World you are responsible for your own actions. — Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 21, 2015
Via: Mirror Online
See Also: Gordon D'Arcy Hits Back At Joe Brolly Over Attack On Enda McNulty
