A jury convicted former footballer Joey Barton of sending grossly offensive social media posts targeting broadcaster Jeremy Vine and TV pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko. Liverpool Crown Court found the 43-year-old guilty on six counts of sending electronic communications with intent to cause distress or anxiety. The jury cleared him of six other charges.
Barton made the posts on X between January and March 2024. They included comparing Ward and Aluko to serial murderers Fred and Rose West and superimposing their faces onto a photograph of the killers. Barton also placed Aluko in the "Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category" and claimed she had "murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans' ears".
He criticized diversity initiatives, posting: "Only there to tick boxes. DEI is a load of s***. Affirmative action. All off the back of the BLM/George Floyd nonsense."
Barton repeatedly called Vine "bike nonce" and questioned whether he had been on "Epstein Island", asking: "Have you been on Epstein Island? Are you going to be on these flight logs? Might as well own up now because I'd phone the police if I saw you near a primary school on ya bike." The jury determined Barton had "crossed the line between free speech and a crime" with these communications.
Prosecution and Defence
Prosecutor Peter Wright KC dismissed Barton's claims of being a free speech advocate. "Mr Barton is not the victim here. He is not the free speech crusader that he would like to paint himself to be. [...] He is just simply an undiluted, unapologetic bully. A little bully who takes pleasure sitting there with his phone in his hand and then posting these slurs," Wright told the jury. Wright described Ward, Aluko and Vine as the "collateral damage of his self-promotion".
Defence counsel Simon Csoka KC argued that free speech comes with a price. "One of the prices is that people will say things that are puerile and offensive. [...] But those are all things, are they not, that can be tolerated and the reason they can is because freedom of speech is so important," he said. Barton claimed he was victim of a "political prosecution" and described his posts as "dark and stupid humour" and "crude banter".
Judge Andrew Menary KC warned Barton, who wore a Union Jack-patterned scarf during the verdict, that he would not be permitted to wear it on the sentencing date. The judge called it a "stunt to make a point". Barton will be sentenced on December 8.
The former Manchester City, Newcastle and Marseille midfielder has 2.7 million followers on X.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
