Joey Barton ‘crossed line between free speech and crime’ with social media posts

Former footballer Joey Barton “crossed the line between freedom of expression and crime” with his social media posts about broadcaster Jeremy Vine and female television pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, a jury has heard.

Barton, 43, is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court on 12 charges of sending grossly offensive electronic communications with intent to cause distress or alarm.

The accusations stem from a series of posts made on social media site X, formerly Twitter, in January and March last year.

Opening the case on Monday, Peter Wright KC told jurors that Barton “has a significant following of over two million on X” and that his comments on social media “could be described as sharp, caustic, controversial and outspoken”.

He said: “Some might even find some of this humorous.

“Everyone has the right to express views that encompass all of these. Even views that are offensive, shocking or personally rude in a democratic, free society, when considered contrary to contemporary standards of an open, fair, multiracial, equal and diverse society, and when these standards are met.

“What one has no right to do is to electronically publish communications beyond what is socially acceptable by applying these standards.

“We say the defendant, Mr. Barton, crossed the line between freedom of expression and crime 12 times.

“On 12 occasions between early January and mid-March last year, he engaged in highly deliberate conduct by targeting three individuals who were variously in the public eye and subjecting them, through his postings, to a series of grossly offensive electronic communications with the intention of causing distress or anxiety to the recipient or any person to whom he intended the content or nature of the communication to be communicated.”

Barton, of Widnes, Cheshire, denies the allegations.