The former footballer Joey Barton “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with social media posts aimed at female pundits, a jury has been told.
Barton, 43, is accused of 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety, related to posts he made on X between January and March in 2024 that targeted Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko as well as the broadcaster Jeremy Vine.
Opening the prosecution case on Monday, Peter Wright KC told the jury at Liverpool crown court that Barton had a “sizeable following on X in excess of 2 million” and often posted things that “may well be characterised as cutting, caustic, controversial and forthright”.
He said: “Everyone is entitled to express views that are all of those,” including things that were “offensive, shocking or personally rude when considered against and applying the contemporary standards of an open, just, multi-racial, equal and diverse society”.
But, Wright said, Barton had posted things that were “beyond the pale of what is tolerable in society” and had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime on 12 occasions”. Barton has denied all charges and pleaded not guilty.
In one of the posts, made after an FA Cup tie between Crystal Palace and Everton on 17 January that Ward and Aluko were pundits for, Barton said the pair were the “Fred and Rose West of commentary”, adding that Aluko was present because of her race and was “only there to tick boxes”.
Barton later posted an image on X with Ward and Aluko’s faces edited over those of the Wests. This led to Vine posting about his concern for Barton, which drew the ire of the former footballer, the court heard.
Barton proceeded to ask Vine if he had “been to Epstein Island”, told him he would “phone the police if I saw you near a primary school on ya bike”, and posted an image of Vine with the caption: “If you see this fella by a primary school call 999.” He also called Vine a “bike nonce”.
Barton, who has gained a reputation for his criticism of female involvement in football and a supposed lack of quality in today’s game, made more than 400 career appearances for six clubs and made a single 11-minute appearance for the England national team in a friendly.
The trial continues.
