Joey Barton pays Jeremy Vine £75,000 and apologises after 'very serious allegation'

Joey Barton has issued an apology to Jeremy Vine and will pay the broadcaster £75,000 in damages plus legal costs to settle a defamation claim regarding social media posts, the ex-footballer announced.

It comes after a judge's decision that Barton's description of Vine as a "bike nonce" on social platforms was defamatory. Barton stated: "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.

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"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."

Radio and TV personality sued the former footballer for defamation and harassment over fourteen online posts in which he named Mr Vine a "big bike nonce" and a "pedo defender" on X, formerly referred to as Twitter. In the early stages of the case, Mrs Justice Steyn was requested during a preliminary hearing earlier this month to decide upon several issues, including discerning whether the 'natural and ordinary' meanings of the posts were factual statements or simply personal opinion, Wales Online reports.

The judge declared that eleven out of the total number of posts could potentially defame Mr Vine. She stated: "The strong impression gained by the assertion the claimant is known as 'aka' 'bike nonce', followed immediately by the further assertion that he is known as, again, 'aka' 'pedo defender', is that the term 'nonce' was being used in its primary meaning to allege the claimant has a sexual interest in children.

"While I do not consider that the hypothetical reader, who would read the post quickly and move on, would infer a causative link, ie that the claimant defends paedophiles because he shares the same propensity, the juxtaposition of the words 'nonce' and 'pedo' is striking and would reinforce the impression that the former was used in the sense of 'paedophile'.

"The reader would have understood that the word 'bike' was a meaningless aspect of the accusation, serving only as an indication that this was a label attached to the claimant, who was known as a cyclist, without detracting from the operative word 'nonce'."

Gervase de Wilde, the barrister representing Mr Vine, told the London hearing on May 9 how his client became the target of abuse following comments made by Barton about women in football media roles. The barrister explained that after Barton likened female pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to notorious killers Fred and Rose West in a social media post, Mr Vine challenged Barton's remarks, questioning if he had suffered a brain injury.

This prompted Barton to initiate what Mr de Wilde described as a "calculated and sustained attack on Mr Vine" at the start of this year. Over several days, Barton directed posts to his substantial following of 2.8 million, even using the hashtag "#bikenonce" on Twitter, causing it to become a trending topic, the court heard.

Mr de Wilde argued that Barton's posts implied Mr Vine had a sexual interest in children, stating that the term "nonce" is inherently defamatory. In contrast, William McCormick KC, defending Mr Barton, contended that the posts were simply "vulgar abuse" and did not constitute libel against Mr Vine, suggesting they were the result of someone lashing out spontaneously.

Addressing a specific tweet from January 8 which labelled Mr Vine as "aka bike nonce", McCormick asserted in written submissions that the phrase was clearly meant as "obvious attempt at humorous abuse of Mr Vine".

Discussing a social media post that contained the phrase "bike nonce", Mrs Justice Steyn remarked: "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."

Throughout his career, Barton has played for teams such as Manchester City, Newcastle United, and French outfit Marseille, and has managed EFL clubs Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers.