Ex-Footballer Joey Barton Gets Suspended Sentence for Offensive Social Media Posts
Former Premier League footballer Joey Barton has been handed a suspended sentence after posting offensive messages about British broadcaster Jeremy Vine and television pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko on social media.
Last month, a jury found Barton had crossed the line between free speech and criminal behaviour in six posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. On Monday at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Andrew Menary sentenced him to six months in custody, suspended for 18 months.
The posts, made after a January 2024 FA Cup match between Crystal Palace and Everton, included comparisons of Ward and Aluko to notorious serial killers and superimposed their faces on images of the killers. Barton also wrote that Aluko, a former England women’s international, belonged in the “Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category” for “murdering football fans’ ears.”
Jurors cleared him of the comparisons to dictators and the Wests analogy but found the image of the pundits superimposed on the killers’ faces grossly offensive. Barton was also convicted for a post suggesting Aluko was only hired for diversity reasons, which was seen as racially offensive.
Additionally, Barton used an offensive term implying that Vine had a sexual interest in children and suggested he knew Jeffrey Epstein. These posts were part of the charges related to grossly offensive communications. He was found not guilty on six other allegations made between January and March 2024.
During the trial, Barton denied targeting the pundits for clicks or self-promotion, claiming he was the victim of a “political prosecution.” The 43-year-old has 2.6 million followers on X, making his posts widely visible.
This case highlights the legal boundaries of online speech in the UK, showing that even high-profile figures can face consequences for offensive content shared on social media platforms.
