Joey Barton’s ‘cloud of filth’ abuse leaves Jeremy Vine close to breaking down in court, as TV presenter tells court he feared for daughters’ safety
TV presenter Jeremy Vine came close to breaking down in court today as he described fearing for his own daughters’ safety after Joey Barton posted a “cloud of dirt” about him on social media.
Mr Vine told how Barton repeatedly claimed he was a pedophile, posted his address on social media and encouraged his three million Twitter/X followers to send him incriminating ‘dirt’ to support his claim when the presenter sued him for libel.
Mr Vine, 60, whose voice broke as he addressed the jury, told Liverpool Crown Court: ‘I am a law-abiding father of two and a good husband and these were disgusting allegations.
‘I was especially worried about my little girls but didn’t want to have contact with them; Especially the youngest ones were upset. I felt I had to explain to them where this cloud of filth was coming from.’
The jury heard the attack on him began when the TV and radio presenter responded on Twitter/X to a tweet in which Barton compared football analysts Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to child serial killers Fred and Rose West. Mr Vine asked his followers whether Barton’s ‘disgusting’ claim was the product of suffering from brain damage.
Jeremy Vine nearly collapses in court after Joey Barton’s posts about him
Although Mr Vine quickly changed the tweet, which some told him was disrespectful to people with brain injuries, his reaction led to a series of tweets in which Mr Barton labeled Mr Vine a ‘quick biker’ and said the police should be called if he was found near a primary school.
Barton’s tweets, viewed millions of times, also linked him to child molesters Rolf Harris and Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Vine told the court: ‘I felt wantonly destroyed for no reason. It was like a violent attack on me; That’s how I felt too.
‘I made my first comment, tried to change it and then tried to leave it alone. I could see that Mr. Barton wanted some kind of pushback. He had obviously decided to harass me and I was starting to get very worried.
‘That was a despicable thing to say. This made me very, very sad and I had sleepless nights.
‘Mr Barton made this extremely damaging statement and his followers took it on the microphone. He saw their answers, amplified them with comments, and announced them with his own megaphone. I didn’t want to inflame it any further. Maybe he wanted to get it out of his system, but I didn’t want to get into any fights with him on social media.
‘Everything was going towards one goal. I was starting to get very worried that Barton had this obsession. I was so panicked. “I had a feeling it wasn’t going to stop.”
Mr. Vine decided to sue Barton for libel; He said this was the quickest way to get her to stop making allegations. But Barton then asked his followers if there was anything he could find that would help him launch a legal fight against Mr. Vine. He tweeted: ‘please send me pictures, screenshots, anything that will help us.’
Barton is seen arriving at Liverpool Crown Court for final hearings on Wednesday
The presenter was very surprised by this. ”I thought, ‘This is incredible,’ he told the jury. ‘I couldn’t believe I saw this.’
When the libel case came to court, Barton was ordered to pay Mr Vine £75,000 and £35,000 plus legal costs and to issue an apology posted on his Twitter/X account. This included an apology for a doctored clip that falsely implied Mr Vine supported forced vaccination.
Barton, 43, denies 12 charges of sending grossly offensive electronic communications with intent to cause distress or alarm.
The case continues.
