The China Mail - Ex-footballer Barton guilty over 'grossly offensive' X posts

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court in northwest England found Barton, 43, had "crossed the line between free speech and a crime" with six posts he made on X.

But Barton, who played for a number of clubs including Manchester City and Marseille before moving into football management, was cleared of six other counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety between January and March 2024.

Following a televised FA Cup tie in January 2024 between Crystal Palace and Everton, he likened Ward and Aluko in a post on X to the "Fred and Rose West of football commentary".

Barton, who won one England cap as a substitute, subsequently superimposed the faces of the two women onto a photograph of two of Britain's most notorious serial murderers.

He also tweeted that Aluko, a former England women's international, was in the "Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category" as she had "murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans' ears".

Jurors found him not guilty on the comparison with dictators Stalin and Pol Pot, as well as the commentary analogy with the Wests, but decided the superimposed image was grossly offensive.

Barton was also convicted over a post in relation to Aluko, who is black, in which he suggested she was merely a diversity hire.

The former midfielder, who has 2.6 million followers on X, used an offensive term indicating that Vine had a sexual interest in children after the TV and radio current affairs presenter sent a message querying whether Barton had a "brain injury".

He also asked Vine: "Have you been on Epstein Island? Are you going to be on these flight logs? Might as well own up now because I'd phone the police if I saw you near a primary school on ya bike."

Barton was convicted over the Epstein post, a reference to deceased US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and also found guilty over other tweets in relation to Vine.

He was bailed ahead of sentencing on December 8.

C.Fong--ThChM