Joey Barton guilty of offensive social media posts directed at football pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko and Jeremy Vine.
Six counts of transmitting a grossly insulting electronic message with the purpose to cause anguish or concern were found against former football player Joey Barton.
Barton, 43, of Widnes, Cheshire, was found by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court to have “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” in a number of messages he made to his more than two million X followers between January and March 2024. He was exonerated of six more charges.
Barton’s initial posts were directed at Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko, two female football commentators who had covered an FA Cup match between Everton and Crystal Palace on January 17, 2024.
Barton, a long-time opponent of women playing men’s football, disparaged the women’s comments throughout the match and likened them to infamous serial killers, referring to them as the “Fred and Rose West of football commentary.” He continued by superimposing the two women’s faces on a picture of the killers. On Tuesday, Ward testified in court that she was “physically scared” by these posts.
e also posted that Aluko was in the “Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category” as she had “murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans’ ears”, before alleging that she was only “there to tick boxes”, adding: “DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] is a load of shit. Affirmative action. All off the back of the BLM/George Floyd nonsense.”
Jeremy Vine, a broadcaster, tried to step in after Barton attacked the two women. He told the court on Wednesday that he was “quite shocked by what Mr. Barton had said about two very respected commentators” and wondered whether he was “dealing with a brain injury here.”
In response, Barton referred to Vine as a “bike nonce,” questioned whether he had “been on Epstein Island” and whether he was “going to be on these flight logs,” and advised him to “own up now because I’d phone the police if I saw you near a primary school on ya bike.” After that, he shared a picture of Vine along with the words, “If you see this fella by a primary school, call 999.”
Barton alleged he was the victim of “political prosecution” and downplayed the posts as “crude banter” and “a spat between celebrities online” when cross-examined on Thursday.
He said: “This was the state, in my opinion, trying to squeeze me into the ground. This is a state prosecution, I believe, for whatever their agendas are in pushing on people.”