Former Premier League soccer midfielder Joey Barton has received a suspended prison sentence after a UK court ruled that a series of social media posts targeting prominent broadcasters crossed the line into criminal abuse.
According to The New York Times, the 43-year-old was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to six months in custody, suspended for 18 months, along with 200 hours of unpaid community work (the equivalent of community service in the United States) and more than £20,000 in prosecution costs (the equivalent of court fees and costs in the United States).
The sentence follows a five-day trial in which a jury found Barton guilty of sending "grossly offensive" electronic communications with the intent to cause distress or anxiety.
The posts were published on X between January and March 2024 and were directed at broadcaster Jeremy Vine and soccer pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko. Barton, a former Manchester City and Newcastle United player, had denied the charges.
During the trial, jurors heard that Barton repeatedly referred to Vine as a “bike nonce,” falsely implying he was a danger to children, and encouraged people to contact police if they saw him near schools.
In separate posts following an FA Cup match between Crystal Palace and Everton, Barton compared Ward and Aluko to serial killers Fred and Rose West (one of Britain's most notorious serial killer couples who tortured, sexually abused, and murdered at least 10 women and girls, including two of their own children) and shared an edited image placing their faces over a photograph of the murderers.
While he was acquitted on some counts, the jury ruled the image itself was grossly offensive and that several of the posts amounted to targeted harassment.
Passing sentence, Judge Andrew Menary KC said Barton’s conduct went beyond the protections of free expression.
“Robust debate, satire, mockery, and even crude language may fall within permissible free speech,” he told the court. “But when posts deliberately target individuals with vilifying comparisons to serial killers or false insinuations of pedophilia, designed to humiliate and distress, they forfeit their protection.”
The judge said Barton’s behavior amounted to “a sustained campaign of online abuse that was not mere commentary but targeted, extreme and deliberately harmful.”
The case was prosecuted under UK communications laws that criminalize sending messages over public electronic networks that are “grossly offensive” and intended to cause distress.
While the legal threshold is high—designed to exclude unpopular opinions or simple insults—the court found Barton’s posts met that bar.
Two of the offenses relating to Aluko, who is Black, were also ruled to be racially aggravated, making them a racist hate crime, according to the BBC.
As part of the sentence, Barton was also issued three restraining orders, barring him for two years from publishing any reference to Vine, Ward, or Aluko on social media or any broadcast platform.
All three victims submitted impact statements describing the toll of Barton’s posts. Vine said the experience had been “profoundly traumatizing,” adding, “I felt my reputation was sullied.” He later said he was relieved the case was over but feared Barton “will keep offending until the day he dies.”
Ward described the abuse as “irresponsible” and “hateful,” telling the court she felt afraid at work and in stadiums where she commentates. “The barrage of hate has left me questioning my own worth,” she said.
Aluko called Barton’s comments “abhorrent and the most offensive criticism I have experienced in my life,” explaining that she had increased personal security and canceled professional engagements after becoming too afraid to leave her home.
Speaking after sentencing, Barton said: “If I could turn back the clock, I would. I never meant to hurt anyone. It was a joke that got out of hand.”