KEVIN Keegan will urge Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley not to sack Joey Barton, but the club was last night "considering" its options after the disgraced midfielder was jailed for six months.

Barton pleaded guilty to assault and affray at Liverpool Crown Court after CCTV cameras captured his involvement in a street attack in Liverpool city centre in the early hours of December 27 last year.

At about 5am, the 25-year-old England international, his cousin, Nadine Wilson, 27, and brother Andrew Barton, 20, went into a McDonald's restaurant for food. Once inside, the court was told that Wilson became involved in a confrontation with a group of youths.

Outside the restaurant, the rows continued and Barton, who had consumed ten pints of lager and five bottles of lager, was caught on CCTV knocking an unidentified man to the ground.

He then straddled the man, and punched him four or five times as Wilson threw food at the victim before Barton punched him up to another 15 times.

Minutes later, the player attacked a 16-year-old youth, punching him in the mistaken belief the youth had slapped Wilson. The punch broke a number of his teeth.

The court was told the Barton brothers had been goaded by remarks about their half-brother Michael, who is serving life for the racist murder of Anthony Walker in Huyton, Merseyside, in 2005.

Barton, of Foxbank Close, Widnes, was jailed for six months for actual bodily harm and four months concurrently for affray.

He was also ordered to pay £2,500 compensation to the 16-year-old boy.

Wilson, of Childwall, Liverpool, was given a six-month sentence for actual bodily harm and two months for affray, suspended for two years.

She was also given a 12-month supervision order and instructed to carry out 12 months' unpaid work.

Andrew Barton, also of Foxbank Close, Widnes, was given a four-month sentence for common assault, suspended for two years, and a 12-month super-vision order.

Judge Henry Globe told Joey Barton: "You were restrained by others, but ignored them and acted in an extremely violent and aggressive manner.

"It also happened at a time when you were on bail for two other matters. If ever there was a time when you should have been on your best behaviour, it was then."

Yesterday's conviction leaves Barton's footballing future in doubt, but Newcastle boss Keegan will continue to support a player who has courted controversy on more than one occasion.

Keegan has backed Barton throughout his four-month reign at St James' Park, and will urge Ashley not to wash his hands of the former Manchester City midfielder.

When he was publicly paraded as Newcastle's new manager in January, Keegan said: "I will support Joey 100 per cent and I will help him in whatever way I can. The best people to help him are the people who know him, and we know him.

"He's an excellent player. He's had some problems, but I told him that he's got my full support. I've given it him before and he has let me down, but he's got it again because I'm convinced that all he wants to do is come and play for this club.

"The only thing I will say is that I can't control what's gone on before, and I can't control what's going to happen in a courtroom."

Keegan is expected to discuss Barton's future with Newcastle chairman Chris Mort later this week, but while the former England manager will urge his employers not to sack the Liverpudlian, the club could yet opt to cut their losses.

Barton has previously been fined six weeks' wages by Manchester City for stubbing a lit cigar into the eye of a team-mate and fined eight weeks' wages for his involvement in an altercation with a 15-year-old supporter during a pre-season tour of Thailand. He is due to stand trial again next month after an alleged training-ground assault that left his former Manchester City team-mate, Ousmane Dabo, needing hospital treatment. He was also bailed pending further inquiries after an arrest last year on suspicion of assault and criminal damage during an incident involving a taxi driver.

Even if he was granted an early release from his current sentence, he would still be unlikely to be available for the start of Newcastle's pre-season training programme in early July.

The Magpies could opt to terminate his contract for gross misconduct despite spending £5.8m to secure his services a last June.

An official club statement released last night said: "Newcastle United notes the sentence passed to Joey Barton at Liverpool Crown Court. The club is considering the verdict and will be making no further comment at this moment."

Players' union chief Gordon Taylor has admitted that Newcastle would be within their rights to terminate its association with Barton, but insists his organisation will continue to support the midfielder.

Taylor said: "Whether he has a future at Newcastle United is a decision for the club. But when somebody has paid the penalty, which Joey will now have to do, every individual should be given the chance to reform themselves and get on with their life in a proper manner.

"We will try to continue to help him do that and hope we can succeed."

Is Kevin Keegan right to back Joey Barton