Joey Barton could find himself in court again next year after Eni Aluko reportedly brought a civil case against him for alleged defamation and harassment following the trial in Liverpool
Joey Barton could face another court case over his controversial online comments after being found guilty of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety. A jury at Liverpool Crown Court found the former footballer guilty of six counts on Friday – and a civil case has now reportedly been scheduled for May.
Barton was in court last week over posts he wrote on X about football pundit Eni Aluko, commentator Lucy Ward and broadcaster Jeremy Vine. The jury accepted the prosecution’s argument that he had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with some of his comments, which included comparing Aluko and Ward to the “Fred and Rose West of football commentary”.
The 43-year-old, who has 2.7m followers on X, said former England forward Aluko was in the “Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category”, was “only there to tick boxes” and had played the “victim card” and the “race card”. He denied the charges but was found guilty of six counts, while he was cleared of six others.
The Guardian now reports that Aluko is bringing a separate civil case against Barton alleging defamation and harassment. It has been scheduled for the high court in May and reportedly alleges that Aluko was defamed in two social media posts and that many other posts from Barton about her amounted to harassment.
READ MORE: Joey Barton found GUILTY over ‘offensive’ X posts aimed at female punditsREAD MORE: Joey Barton ‘left Jeremy Vine fearing for his safety’ after vile social media posts
In a statement released after the verdict at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, Aluko said: “Social media is a cesspit where too many people feel they can say things to others they wouldn’t dream of saying in real life under the guise of freedom of speech. This is a reminder that actions online do not come without consequences.
“The messages directed at me, Lucy Ward and Jeremy Vine by Joey Barton were deeply distressing and had a real damaging impact on my life and career. I am glad that justice has been served.”
She has now spoken also about the case in an interview with Sky News. “I was devastated, it came out of the blue. I was just doing my job, it didn’t make sense,” Aluko said on Monday.
“That first week, I was very crippled, I didn’t really feel like I could do anything. After I reported it to the police, I then left the country because I couldn’t really cope being in this fish bowl-type experience where you feel like everybody is talking about you.
“You start getting very paranoid about that leading into physical violence, or somebody accosting you on the street and knowing what’s been said. This is the thing with online abuse – there’s an invisibility to it that feels very uncomfortable.”
Asked about Barton’s accusation that she was “only there to tick boxes”, Aluko responded: “That’s just pure racism isn’t it? Because when you get reduced to the colour of your skin, despite all the things I’ve done and all the hard work I’ve put in.
“To some extent I’ve had to go through some difficult things to get to where I’m at, so in my view that’s pure racism. And I’m delighted that the jury have said that crosses the line.”
