CHRIS HUGHTON yesterday stressed his support for striker Andy Carroll, who pleaded guilty to common assault and received a British crown court fine yesterday.
“Andy’s had a lot of backing from people around him,” said Newcastle’s manager. “He’s a player and a lad who is very much liked here. This is now an episode in the past. It’s a chapter out of the way. We push on from it.”
Carroll, who was ordered to pay a €1,125 fine, €1,700 costs and €2,800 compensation to Michael Cook, at Newcastle Crown Court, had earlier denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm, a charge dropped when he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence.
While Hughton’s relief was palpable, he accepts the 21-year-old Carroll, living with club captain Kevin Nolan as part of the bail conditions relating to another assault charge, which Carroll denies, must avoid repeating mistakes.
Considering the assault related to a dispute arising from a spilled drink in Tyneside’s Blu Bambu nightclub at the end of a night in which the court was told Carroll had consumed nine or 10 pints of lager, it would be a major surprise if the striker’s transgressions have not resulted in internal club discipline.
Hughton refused to address that point yesterday.
GuardianService
