They say you shouldn’t kick a man when he’s down. But as Joey Barton seems to have little aversion to putting the boot in, any slagging off of football’s No.1 thug is surely fair pickings.

However, the Daily Mirror’s headline story about Newcastle United's wayward Scouser carving up traffic and haring along bus lanes in his Range Rover to get to a probation appointment didn't quite ring true to me.

Give a dog a bad name and hang him, they say. In the case of Barton’s half-brother, an accomplice in the particularly heinous murder of an innocent student, there are plenty of people who would have backed the ultimate punishment. In fact, it’s hard to justify a killer’s life being spared when his victim’s family must suffer forever.

After a chronicle of violent assaults on teammates and civilians, bad-boy Joey himself really is open to attack from all quarters. And with his track record, he has absolutely no defence. But how many testosterone-filled men in a hurry have flipped down a bus lane to take a short cut? Or raced through an amber light on the point of it turning red?

And in this case, the pictures indicate he was being followed by the Mirror (or whoever filmed it all for them) down those bus lanes. Has anyone reported THEM to the police, I wonder?

Of course Barton was out of order. But it all smacks of the Mirror setting out from the start to create a front-page lead out of nothing. How did a video camera just happen to be on hand to record it all? It looks to me like a pre-arranged plan by the Mirror to put the boot into Barton once more – to coincide with the FA hearing which saw him banned for another half-a-dozen games for his assault on former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo.

The FA took a softly-softly approach in giving the wayward midfielder an incentive to stay out of trouble. There had been predictions Barton would be banned for up to 15 matches for the Dabo attack.  Instead, he must sit out only six games - with another six suspended – and pay a modest (to him) £25,000 fine.

A statement issued on the FA's website read: "The commission members wanted to punish the offence appropriately but give Mr Barton an opportunity to ensure his professional conduct does not falter again and ensure he is fully aware of the consequences should he make another serious error of judgment."

OK, the odds are that, given time, he'll dig his own grave even deeper. In Barton's case, it's hard to see this particular leopard ever changing its spots. But what chance does the lad have when sensation-seeking tabloids exploit every opportunity to boot him even further into the gutter?

The Mirror have merely mirrored what we all expect (and as a former Daily Mirror staff sub-editor I am speaking with inside knowledge of how ‘news’ gathering works). It’s all about digging dirt on celebrities – or in Barton’s case, wayward footballers. In his case, the poor guy’s track record is so tarnished that he’s easy meat for the hacks.

The Mirror chose to slag off Barton’s ‘‘arrogance’’ in queue jumping as he revved his way through Newcastle’s busy city centre. It makes me question how many Premier League footballers AREN’T arrogant? I mean, it’s hard to be humble when you earn millions of pounds a year. In their place, wouldn’t you feel entitled to feel a bit special?

OK, you can be special AND humble, but it ain’t easy! And although I have never met Barton, I’m told he is quite an honest and personable guy when he’s not angry or drunk.

Certainly not like another former Manchester City player, Eyal Berkovic, who once parked his Merc in the middle of the road outside his kids’ school in north Manchester, blocking traffic, and when challenged, scoffed haughtily: ''Do you know who I am?''

Barton may be an ex-jailbird, a stigma he can NEVER shake off, but I’ll wager he’s more popular in the game than Berkovic ever was (John Hartson, please confirm).

I find it difficult to believe Newcastle United fans will make a big deal out of Barton’s demonic driving. It’s not as if anyone was killed or seriously injured, after all.

To be honest, after King Kevin Keegan’s walkout, I think I’d rather be in Joey’s boots right now than those of Dennis Wise…