Joey Barton arrives for sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court (Image: Andrew Stenning/Daily Mirror)

Former Premier League footballer Joey Barton has avoided a prison sentence after posting grossly offensive social media messages about broadcaster Jeremy Vine and football pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko.

Last month, a jury at Liverpool Crown Court determined that Barton, 43, had "crossed the line between free speech and a crime" with six posts on X, previously known as Twitter .

After a televised FA Cup match in January 2024 between Crystal Palace and Everton, he compared Ms Ward and Ms Aluko to the "Fred and Rose West of football commentary", even going so far as to superimpose their faces onto a photograph of the notorious killers.

Barton won a Championship title with Newcastle

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