Social media posts by Joey Barton calling Jeremy Vine a ‘n***e’ were defamatory, a High Court judge has ruled.
Mr Barton faced legal action from the TV and radio presenter over 14 online posts, including where he called Mr Vine a “big bike n***e” and a “pedo defender” on X, formerly Twitter.
Mr Vine took the ex-midfielder to court for libel and harassment, following a social media exchange over Mr Barton’s criticism of women’s involvement in men’s football.
At a preliminary hearing earlier this month, Mrs Justice Steyn was asked to decide several early issues in the case, including the “natural and ordinary” meanings of the posts and whether they were statements of fact or opinion.
On Friday, the judge ruled that 11 of the posts could defame Mr Vine.
In a hearing earlier this month, Lawyers for Mr Vine told the court that the abuse began following Mr Barton’s comments on women involved in football, particularly in the media, from the end of 2023.
Following a social media post where Mr Barton compared female pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West, Mr Vine questioned the remarks and whether Mr Barton had a brain injury, the court heard.
This led to Mr Barton launching a “calculated and sustained attack on Mr Vine” on January 6, including by repeating allegations that Mr Vine supported administering Covid-19 vaccinations by force.
Mr Barton published several posts over the following days to his 2.8 million followers, including labelling Mr Vine a “bike n***e”, a “pedo defender” and “a n***e”, and associated him with paedophiles including Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Barton then began using “#biken***e” on X, which led to it trending on the platform.
In written submissions, Mr Vine’s lawyer claimed Mr Barton’s “ongoing attacks” on Mr Vine were “on a very significant scale”, with some posts being seen by more than 2.5 million people.
Lawyers for Mr Vine claim the posts contained “clear references to (Mr Vine) having a sexual interest in children” and had led to him being subjected to “paedophilic slurs”, while barristers for Mr Barton said that the publications “would obviously not” lead people to believe Mr Vine was “a paedophile”.
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