The Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton has been cleared of criminal damage charges.

Barton was found not guilty at Liverpool Magistrates' Court of vandalising a taxi after a night out in March last year. He had been accused of ripping out a radio from a taxi when the cab driver refused to queue at a drive-through McDonald's restaurant. He was acquitted after his cousin Joshua Wilson, who was with Barton at the time, admitted he had caused the damage.

The player, who was last week jailed for six months for assault and affray, left court to return to prison after a half-day trial.