Joey Barton arriving at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing (Image: © 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved)

Former footballer Joey Barton has been sentenced after posting deeply offensive messages on social media targeting broadcaster Jeremy Vine and television football pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko. A jury at Liverpool Crown Court found last month that Barton, 43, had "crossed the line between free speech and a crime" through six posts published on X, previously known as Twitter .

After a televised FA Cup match in January 2024 between Crystal Palace and Everton, he compared Ward and Aluko to the "Fred and Rose West of football commentary" before superimposing their faces onto an image of the notorious serial killers. In a separate post targeting Aluko, Barton declared: "Only th

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