Sky Sports has suspended Jamie Carragher as a pundit for rest of the season after he was filmed spitting at a Manchester United fan’s car last weekend.

The former Liverpool defender claims he was goaded by the driver following United’s 2-1 win over Liverpool but some of his spit hit the United fan’s 14-year-old daughter, who was sitting in the back seat.

Carragher will not be paid for the duration of his suspension and, in a statement, Sky Sports said it had taken the decision to bench the 40-year-old pundit following an internal review of the incident.

“Jamie has taken full responsibility for what has happened and we will ensure he gets the help he needs to guarantee something like this never happens again,” it said.

“Before the start of the next season we will sit down with Jamie to discuss whether he is ready to return to his role.”

Carragher contacted the United fan, a 42-year-old from North Wales called Andy Hughes, on Sunday to apologise to him and his daughter.

He has also apologised publicly and has today posted another message on Twitter taking full responsibility after it emerged that Hughes and his family have received abuse for his role in the incident.

Hughes was warned by the police for using his phone to film Carragher while both were driving but no further action will be taken and the ex-England defender has asked his Twitter followers to “please leave the family alone”.

In response to the decision, Carragher tweeted: “I have already said I take responsibility for what happened.

“It was a moment of madness and I’m going to speak to the relevant people to ensure something like this never happens again. Again apologies all round.”