Joey Barton has been convicted for sending ‘grossly offensive’ social media posts.
The Liverpool-born footballer compared Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West while referring to broadcaster Jeremy Vine as a ‘bike nonce’.
A jury at the city’s Crown Court ruled that Barton had ‘crossed the line between free speech and a crime’ with a series of posts made on his X account last year.
The court heard that the 43-year-old had first singled out pundits Aluko and Ward during a live FA Cup tie between Crystal Palace and Everton in January 2024.
He referred to the pair as the ‘Fred and Rose West of football commentary’ before superimposing the faces of the two women on to a photograph of the murderers.
Barton went on to claim that Aluko was in the ‘Joseph Stalin/Pol Pol category’ as she had ‘murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans’ ears’.
He also rounded on Mr Vine, who had attempted to intervene in the online onslaught, by calling him a “bike nonce” and making references to ‘Epstein Island’.
Other posts against the broadcaster to his 2.6 million followers said ‘If you see this fella by a primary school call 999’ and ‘Beware Man with Camera on his helmets cruising past primary schools. Call the Cops if spotted’.
The jury found Barton, now living in Widnes, guilty on six counts of sending grossly offensive electronic communications with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
He was acquitted of a further six but was warned by Judge Andrew Menary KC not to continue his ‘stunt’ of wearing a Union Jack scarf in the dock for sentencing on December 8.
Callum Bryce, of Senior Crown Prosecutor of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: “Between early January and mid-March 2024, Barton subjected three public figures to offences of malicious communications.
“Barton said in his evidence before the court that in some of his messages he was trying to make a serious point in a provocative way and that in others he was simply joking.
“The finding of the jury confirmed that his conduct had gone beyond any joke and his messages were grossly offensive with the purpose of causing anxiety and distress to his victims.”