NEW Celtic signing Chris Sutton was yesterday found guilty of spitting in the face of a Manchester United fan during a night out with friends, and ordered to pay a total of #700, at Horseferry Road Magistrates Court in central London.
The striker, who yesterday completed his #6m move from Chelsea, was found guilty of two counts of common assault
Stipendiary Magistrate Susan Staveley said she found both charges proved because ''there was total consistency in evidence'' against Sutton, and ordered the player to pay fines of #300, costs of #200 and #200 compensation to his victim, trainee barrister Richard Partridge.
The incident happened last October, when Sutton and nine friends went to the Mezzo restaurant in Soho to celebrate his wife Samantha's 26th birthday. The court was told that as the party left the venue at 3am Sutton, 27, of Sarratt, Hertfordshire, bumped into Ms Helen McNamara, 23.
Mr Partridge, 25, who was with Ms McNamara, then become involved in a dispute during which, it was alleged, someone called out to the footballer's party - which included Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris - that one of them was a ''third string player''.
Mr Nazir Atzal, prosecuting, told the court that Chelsea had lost a match that day against Derby County and Sutton was also failing to deliver goals after his #10m transfer from Blackburn Rovers to Chelsea.
Mr Atzal said: ''We suggest you (Sutton) were overly sensitive on that night. It weighed very heavily on you what people said about you.''
During the altercation Mr Partridge claimed that Sutton had told him to go back to his council estate and then criticised his clothes.
Father-of-three Sutton, who denied both charges, told the court he had only drunk two glasses of wine during the evening.
The #1m-a-year striker said of his career at Chelsea: ''I didn't get off to the best of starts but things happen like that.
''I have had it happen many times during my career but I always bounced back and it was only the beginning of the season.''
Describing what happened outside the restaurant, Sutton said: ''As I left to come down the steps I stumbled into a lady and apologised on more than one occasion.
''The lady didn't seem happy with an apology. I then continued to walk down the steps and there were some words from a group.
''I have been in situations like this before. I felt things said to me were abusive and derogatory.''
Mr Atzal said to the footballer: ''Spitting in someone's face is absolutely repulsive, isn't it?''
Sutton answered: ''Yes.''
After the hearing, Sutton who was due to join his Celtic team-mates in Denmark last night, described the result as ''a joke'', adding: ''I am concerned about people's perception of me now and that anybody else could make allegations against me and I end up with a criminal record.''
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