Football player buys Banksy at charity auction

Queens Park Rangers star Joey Barton forked out thousands of pounds for charity in Kensal Green last week.

The Midfielder splashed �6,000 on an original painting by influential street artist Bansky during a lavish auction at The Paradise pub in Kilburn Lane last week.

The Urban Art Auction hosted by renowned artist ‘Inkie’ showcased a range of paintings from a number of urban artists with all proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.

Shelley Martin-Light, who organised the auction, spoke of the evening’s success and the generous donation from Mr Barton.

She said: “It was a really great evening and all for a very good cause, Joey was such a gentlemen as well and his contributions will be a massive help.”

The 29-year-old spent a total of �10,000 throughout the evening and he was full of praise for the event as well.

He tweeted the following day: “Always wanted to own something by Banksy and this is a great kid’s charity, so it supports a great cause.”

The event raised �32,000 in total for the charity and Miss Martin-Light was delighted with the outcome.

She said: “We held an event in 2009 and raised around �25,000 so we are all really delighted we managed to raise more this time.”