Skip to content

Nicky Butt assault charge dropped by Crown Prosecution Service

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10:  during the Soccerex European Forum Conference Programme on September 10, 2014 in Manchester, England.  (Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images)

Prosecutors have dropped an assault charge against Nicky Butt, Manchester United's head of first-team development.

The 45-year-old was accused of beating his estranged wife Shelley Barlow last April and was due to go on trial next week, but the case has been discontinued after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) offered no evidence.

It is understood Ms Barlow did not want to go into the witness box to give evidence against her husband.

Butt had pleaded not guilty to common assault and causing £800 of criminal damage to Ms Barlow's mobile phone.

Nicky Butt
Image: Nicky Butt played 270 games for Manchester United, scoring 21 goals

A CPS spokesman said: "We have a duty to keep all cases under review and following the receipt of new material have decided to discontinue this prosecution.

"Mr Butt has agreed to accept a caution for criminal damage."

At a previous hearing, Lisa Roberts QC, representing Butt said it would be her client's case that he did not know how the complainant came about any injury.

A preliminary hearing was due to take place at Manchester Magistrates' Court in which Butt's legal team was expected to argue the case should be thrown out as an abuse of process - partly questioning the proportionality of continuing with the prosecution.

Butt, from Bowdon, Altrincham, won a string of Premier League titles in his playing career at Old Trafford and also played in the club's dramatic last-gasp 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final.

Following his arrest last April, it was reported that, months earlier, he had separated from his wife of 11 years - with whom he has two children.

A spokesperson for Nicky Butt's legal team said: "We are pleased that this matter has now been resolved and that our understanding of events has been accepted."

Around Sky