Barton guilty of offensive X posts

'HE IS SIMPLY AN UNDILUTED, UNAPOLOGETIC BULLY'

- By SOPHIE MCCOID & KIM PILLING

FORMER footballer Joey Barton has been found guilty of sending grossly offensive social media posts about broadcaster Jeremy Vine and TV football pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday found that Barton, 43, had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with six posts he made on X, formerly Twitter.

He was acquitted of six other charges of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety between January and March 2024.

Barton, of Widnes, had denied 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety between January and March last year.