Joey Barton pays Jeremy Vine £75k and issues grovelling apology after 'bike nonce' post

Joey Barton has issued an apology to broadcaster Jeremy Vine and agreed to pay £75,000 in damages to settle a High Court libel claim.

In a statement on a social media platform, former Manchester City midfielder Barton admitted that his allegations against Vine, which included calling him a "bike nonce", were "untrue". Vine had taken legal action against Barton for libel and harassment following 14 posts online, where Barton labelled Vine as a "big bike nonce" and a "pedo defender".

Last month, a High Court judge determined that 11 of these posts could be defamatory towards Vine. Barton acknowledged in his statement: "Between 8 and 12 January 2024 I published 11 posts which accused Jeremy Vine of having a sexual interest in children, and created a hashtag which made the same allegations, which were viewed millions of times.

"I recognise that this is a very serious allegation. It is untrue. I do not believe that Mr Vine has a sexual interest in children, and I wish to set the record straight.

ALSO READ: Man City already handed crucial title advantage over Arsenal and Liverpool

ALSO READ: Man City Premier League 2024/25 fixtures in full as Blues face Chelsea on opening day

"I also published posts during the same period in which I referred to Mr Vine having advocated forced vaccination during the Covid 19 pandemic, based upon a video clip of his TV programme. I accept that he did not advocate this policy and that the video clip has been edited to give a misleading impression of what he was in fact saying.

"I then taunted and abused Mr Vine for bringing a legal complaint against me. I have agreed not to make the same allegations again about Mr Vine and I apologise to him for the distress he has suffered."

"To resolve his claims against me in defamation and harassment, I have agreed to pay Mr Vine £75,000 in damages and his legal costs."

Lawyers for Mr Vine detailed during a London hearing on May 9 how Mr Barton unleashed a barrage of abusive tweets targeting the broadcaster in early January this year, describing it as a "calculated and sustained attack". Mr Barton, whose playing career that saw him appear for for the likes of City, Newcastle United, Rangers, and French outfit Marseille, also initiated the use of "#bikenonce" on X, which subsequently trended on the platform, the court heard.

Gervase de Wilde, representing Mr Vine, stated that the posts included "clear references to (Mr Vine) having a sexual interest in children", emphasising that the term "nonce" inherently carries a defamatory connotation. William McCormick KC, representing Mr Barton, argued at an earlier hearing that the tweets were "vulgar abuse" rather than libellous statements about Mr Vine, suggesting they were the result of someone lashing out "someone who is posting in the heat of the moment".

However, Mrs Justice Steyn found that 11 of the tweets could indeed be considered defamatory towards Mr Vine, noting that the term "nonce" implied he "has a sexual interest in children" and dismissing the word "bike" as "a meaningless aspect of the accusation". In discussing a particular tweet containing "bike nonce", the judge concluded: "In my judgment, the hypothetical ordinary reasonable reader would understand the post as taunting, scorning and ridiculing the claimant for his alleged proclivity.

"The jocular tone might be seen by the ordinary reasonable reader as in bad taste, given the subject matter, but it would not lead them to understand that no allegation of having a sexual interest in children was seriously being made. Nor would the reader perceive it as meaningless abuse 'shouted' in the heat of the moment, as there is nothing in the post that would give that impression."

Mr Barton was the manager of League One side Bristol Rovers from February 2021 until October last year. He previously managed Fleetwood Town.