Newcastle striker Andy Carroll pleads guilty on assault charges
Newcastle striker Andy Carroll has pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in a Newcastle night club in December.
The under-21 England international was ordered to pay a £1000 fine for the charge and £2500 in compensation to the victim Michael Cook.
The incident took place at a night club called Blu Bambu. Carroll had eight or nine pints of lager in the nightclub when Cook accidentally spilled beer over a woman who was drinking with Carroll.
In response the woman poured her drink over Cook before he threw the remainder of his drink in her face.
Carroll reacted by throwing his own drink at Cook, but the glass accidently slipped out of his hand and hit Cook in the eye. The cut left a gash and bruising above Cook’s eye.
Prosecutor Peter Gair said, "What happened was not a deliberate or reckless act, but as a consequence of his throwing the drink.”
"His hand was wet; his glass left his hand and it struck Mr Cook above his right eye," he added.
Judge Esmond Faulks found Carroll guilty of assault and said, “The prosecution accept you did not intend to injure Mr Cook, so that what happened to him was effectively an accident.”
"In these unusual circumstances I can proceed to deal with you by way of a financial penalty," added the judge.
Carroll scored in last weekend’s Premier League match with West Ham and the 21-year-old is expected to feature in this Sunday’s match against local rivals Sunderland.
A Newcastle United spokesman said: "Andy is happy that this matter has now been concluded and that he can concentrate on playing football."
Newcastle are currently in ninth position in the league and manager Chris Hughton will be relieved that the case is now over, in what has been an unwelcome distraction.
Hughton will hope that his team’s top scorer can now focus on Newcastle United and his own form.
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