""It was not meant to call him a paedophile. It was a bad, dark, juvenile joke," he said. "I have not at any point tried to cause distress or anxiety or risk his life or his daughters' lives. "I don't want people to fear for their lives, I'm a dad. "I cannot believe I'm on trial for this. Words on a social media site.""
""The reality is you targeted these women and you bullied them.""
""Is the truth that, under the guise of your right to freedom of expression, you engage in personal slur and grossly offensive remarks to those who you feel are fair game?""
Joey Barton believes he is the victim of a political prosecution and denies sending grossly offensive social media posts to get clicks or promote himself. He described references to Jeremy Vine as a wind-up and called an allegation a bad, dark, juvenile joke, insisting he did not intend to cause distress or risk lives. Barton emphasized he is a father and does not want people to fear for their lives. After an FA Cup game in January 2024 he compared commentators Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko to the "Fred and Rose West of football commentary." Prosecutor Peter Wright KC accused him of targeting and bullying those women and questioned whether he used freedom of expression as a guise for personal slurs.
Read at www.bbc.com
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