A former City player is accused of being insensitive for his version of a controversial topic

The Anthony Walker Foundation, named after a teenager murdered on July 29, 2005 at the hands of footballer Joey Barton's brother, has denounced the current Bristol Rovers manager's description of the murder.

Joey Barton, who for many years was the bad boy of English football, seemed to downplay the importance of Walker's murder by saying on the podcast Anything Goes with James English that my brother has lost 17 years of his life after being imprisoned for his role in a damn junkyard. His partner thought it would be a great idea, when they were having a fight, to pull out an ice ax and swing it around.

In his memory Joey Barton, who at the time of the murder was playing for Manchester City, acknowledged that he cannot forget or forgive Paul Taylor's actions, and believed that both his cousin and brother deserved their sentences, as well as wondering if could have done more to prevent Walker's murder.

Michael Barton, who at the age of 17 was sentenced to life in prison, was released from prison in September 2022 after being convicted of his participation in the murder of the 18-year-old in McGoldrick Park. Anthony Walker was returning to his house accompanied by his girlfriend Louisa Thompson and his cousin Marcus Binns when Michael Barton, accompanied by his cousin Paul Taylor, began making racist insults.

The Anthony Walker Foundation's criticism of Joey Barton

Kaushik Mistry, executive director of the Anthony Walker Foundation, dismissed the idea that Michael had lost years of his life and issued a damning statement underlining that Walker's life had been lost forever. The Anthony Walker Foundation has been made aware of an extract from a podcast by James English with Joey Barton, in which he refers to the murder of Anthony Walker by his brother Michael.