Overview
- A Liverpool Crown Court jury found Joey Barton guilty on six counts related to grossly offensive communications on X and acquitted him on six others.
- Jurors ruled that a post superimposing Eni Aluko’s and Lucy Ward’s faces onto an image of serial killers was grossly offensive.
- Aluko said the abuse left her unable to eat or leave her house and feeling terrified in her local area, citing Barton's 2.5–2.7 million followers as an amplifier.
- Barton told the court he intended dark humour and provocative commentary rather than distress, but prosecutors argued he crossed the line into criminal conduct.
- Aluko called for Ofcom fines to hold platforms accountable, and a report says she has filed a separate civil case alleging defamation and harassment scheduled for May.