Joey Barton has been convicted of criminal offences over a series of posts he wrote on X abusing other celebrities.
The former footballer, 43, repeatedly called Jeremy Vine a ‘bike nonce’ after the TV and radio presenter wrote a post suggesting Barton had suffered a ‘brain injury’.
‘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 wrote.
The ex-Manchester City and QPR midfielder was previously ordered to pay Mr Vine £110,000 in damages over the posts, which were made in January 2024, after a judge found they were defamatory.
That month Barton also called TV football pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko the ‘Fred and Rose West of football commentary’, posting a mocked-up image imposing their faces over the serial killer couple.
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He also said Aluko was in the ‘Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category’ as she had ‘murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans’ ears’.
In a separate post he wrote: ‘Only there to tick boxes. DEI [diversity, equity and inclusoin] is a load of shit.
‘Affirmative action. All off the back of the BLM/George Floyd nonsense.’
Prosecutors argued Barton had ‘crossed the line between free speech and a crime’ by ‘some considerable margin’.
Barton told jurors he was the victim of a ‘political prosecution’ and that his posts about Ward and Aluko were ‘dark and stupid humour’.
He said his tweets to Vine were ‘crude banter’ and had no intention to imply he was a paedophile, insisting ‘bike nonce’ is a common jibe used against cyclists in general.
Simon Csoka KC, defending, said free speech is ‘completely worthless’ if Barton’s tweets are considered to have crossed the line.
He said his client’s posts were ‘idiotic or, at times, even offensive’ but were not ‘grossly offensive’, suggesting Barton ‘got it wrong with a wind-up’.
Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, argued: ‘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 not some martyr to be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
‘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.’
The jury found Barton guilty of six counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
A sentencing hearing will be announced in due course.
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