IN THE game of “who is brave enough to buy Lee Bowyer?” most football fans would rather the Newcastle United misfit did not pass go, did not collect his £38,000-a-week pay packet and went straight to jail for fighting Kieron Dyer, his team-mate.
But everyone deserves the opportunity to play their “chance” card and this week the midfield player will use his by challenging his forthcoming prosecution for the infamous seven-second on-pitch mêlée.
Steve Barker, Bowyer’s lawyer, has given the Crown Prosecution Service until today to reconsider the prosecution before he requests permission from the High Court to apply for a judicial review.
Barker believes that the decision by Northumbria Police to issue Bowyer with a court summons to face a public order charge was taken for political rather than legal reasons. The player had already been handed a record fine of £228,000 by Newcastle, a further £30,000 by the Football Association’s disciplinary committee and a was given a seven-match ban for his part in the fight in April. Both players were sent off in the home game against Aston Villa and Dyer faces no further action.
Bowyer became notorious after being charged with Jonathan Woodgate for attacking an Asian student in Leeds in 2001. He was cleared of all charges but the mud stuck. Birmingham City supporters started an internet campaign against him when a transfer was on the cards and he is now considering moving abroad.
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His parting shot might be that he alone does not have the monopoly on bad behaviour in the Premiership.