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Former Rangers star Joey Barton “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” in relation to social media posts about broadcaster Jeremy Vine and female football pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, a jury has heard on Monday (November 3).

Barton, 43, is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court, accused of 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety. The former Gers midfielder was charged in relation to a series of posts made in January and March last year on the social media site X, formerly Twitter.

Opening the prosecution case on Monday, Peter Wright KC told jurors that Barton had a “sizeable following on X in excess of two million” and his comments on the social media platform “may well be characterised as cutt

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