Barcelona’s Arda Turan sentenced for gunfire in hospital

A Turkish court has sentenced Barcelona midfielder Arda Turan to two years and eight months in jail for firing a gun to cause fear and panic, illegal possession of weapons and intentional injury.

However, the court deferred the implementation of the verdict on Wednesday, which means the Turkish footballer will not go to prison unless he commits a crime in the next five years.

Turan, who is on a loan at Turkish club Basaksehir, was involved in a fight with Turkish singer Berkay Sahin in an Istanbul nightclub in October last year, leaving the singer with a broken nose.

The footballer later arrived at the hospital with a gun that he fired into the ground, causing panic.

Basaksehir said it fined the 32-year-old 2.5 million Turkish lira ($432,548) over the incident.

Prosecutors had previously demanded Turan be sentenced to up to 12 years in jail, according to the Turkish Daily Sabah newspaper. 

He was acquitted on charges of sexual harassment against Sahin’s wife on Wednesday.

In a statement on his Instagram account after his court appearance, Turan apologised to his club and family.

“I learned lessons from these events,” he wrote.

“The headline of this event is that I’m acquitted of the charges of harassment; not the penalties I received for errors I made due to these slanders thrown at me.”

Turan joined Barcelona from Atletico Madrid for 34 million euros ($37.45m) in 2015, winning four trophies, making 55 appearances and scoring 15 goals for the Catalan club.

He has played for Turkey 100 times and scored 17 goals for his country.