Joey Barton Convicted Over Offensive Social Media Posts

Former footballer and manager Joey Barton has been convicted of sending grossly offensive posts on social media about broadcaster Jeremy Vine and TV pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court ruled that Barton, 43, had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with six posts he made on X, formerly Twitter. He was acquitted of six other counts of sending grossly offensive electronic communications with intent to cause distress or anxiety between January and March 2024. Barton was granted bail and will be sentenced on December 8.

Following a televised FA Cup match between Crystal Palace and Everton in January 2024, Barton likened Ward and Aluko to “the Fred and Rose West of football commentary.” He later posted an edited image with their faces superimposed onto a photograph of the serial killers.

Jurors found him not guilty on the comparison itself but ruled that the altered image was grossly offensive.

Barton was also convicted over another post about Aluko, in which he wrote: “Only there to tick boxes. DEI is a load of s—. Affirmative action. All off the back of the BLM/George Floyd nonsense.”

In another tweet, he compared Aluko to dictators, writing that she was in the “Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category” for having “murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans’ ears.” Jurors cleared him of that count.

The former Manchester City, Newcastle, and Marseille midfielder, who has 2.7 million followers on X, was also found guilty of a series of posts targeting Jeremy Vine.

Barton suggested that Vine had a sexual interest in children after the presenter sent him a message asking whether he had a “brain injury.” He repeatedly referred to Vine as “bike nonce” and asked: “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.”

He was convicted over the Epstein comment and another tweet that read: “Oh @theJeremyVine Did you Rolf-aroo and Schofield go out on a tandem bike ride? You big bike nonce ya.”

He was also found guilty of additional tweets about Vine that said: “If you see this fella by a primary school call 999” and “Beware Man with Camera on his helmets cruising past primary schools. Call the Cops if spotted.”

Barton was cleared of three other posts referencing Vine.

The honorary recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary, noted that Barton was wearing a Union Jack-patterned scarf as the verdicts were read. “He has chosen to adorn himself with a particular flag which I suppose is a stunt to make a point,” the judge said. “He will not be permitted to do that on the sentencing date.”