Joey Barton charged with alleged ‘malicious communications towards Eni Aluko’ – as former Man City midfielder claims British legal system is ‘becoming a Banana Republic’ after previously comparing pundit to serial killers Fred and Rose West in January
Joey Barton has been charged over alleged ‘malicious communications’ towards pundit and former England star Eni Aluko, in response to which he called the justice system a ‘banana republic’.
Barton will appear in court on July 30, following an investigation by Cheshire Police.
In January, former Premier League footballer Aluko and fellow analyst Lucy Ward compared themselves to serial killers Fred and Rose West.
“A man from Widnes has been charged in court with malicious communications,” a statement from Cheshire Police said.
‘Following an investigation by Cheshire Police, the Crown Prosecution Service has now approved charges against Joseph Barton. The 41-year-old will appear at Warrington Crown Court on Tuesday, July 30.
Joey Barton has been charged over alleged ‘malicious communications’ towards Eni Aluko
He compared Aluko to serial killers and claimed the pundit fell into the ‘category of Joseph Stalin’
‘The charges relate to reports of alleged malicious communications online between Monday, January 1 and Thursday, January 18.’
Responding to the charges, Barton wrote on X: ‘Next month I am due to stand trial on a charge of “malicious communications” at Warrington Mag over Eni Aluko’s tweets.
‘We live in crazy times. Aren’t the police busy enough already?
‘The British system is becoming a banana republic. Lawfare is being used against its own citizens for having a different opinion.’
In February, Aluko accused Barton of subjecting her to one of the worst instances of social media abuse I have ever witnessed, following a flood of disgusting messages.
After covering Crystal Palace’s FA Cup draw with Ward in January, Barton had written: ‘How can she even talk about men’s football? She can’t even kick a ball properly. Your coverage of the EFC match last night took it to a new low. Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, the Fred and Rose West of football commentary.’
The Wests murdered 12 women and young girls over the course of 20 years. Fred committed suicide before he could face trial, while Rose was sentenced to 10 life terms. She is still in prison at the age of 70.
Barton added fuel to the fire by making his criticism even more extreme, writing that Aluko “clearly fell into the category of Joseph Stalin” because he had “murdered the ears of hundreds of thousands of fans.”
Aluko lashed out at Barton earlier this year after he sent several messages to her on social media
The former Man City star attacked Aluko on social media with a series of controversial posts
He criticised Eni Aluko for working on Everton’s match against Palace – saying she ‘couldn’t even kick a ball properly’ – before launching a sickening slur at her and presenter Lucy Ward
Aluko told BBC Breakfast in February how the tirades had affected her life.
“I can only describe it as waves crashing on you,” she said. “I think Joey Barton’s tweets were a week long sequence.
‘There were multiple tweets, he kept going even after ITV defended me and Lucy Ward, and basically he was deliberately trying to get worse and incite other people to say the same thing. This is probably one of the worst cases of social media abuse I have ever experienced.’
Aluko admitted that being targeted for experiences on social media is not new to her, but she stressed that Barton’s attacks were different because the former Manchester City midfielder had 2.8 million followers on X.
“It’s not something I haven’t experienced before, it’s part of a culture that I think a lot of women in broadcasting have been dealing with for a long time. But here you have someone in Joey Barton who has millions of followers and is actively targeting people like me to generate attention for X,” Aluko continued.
‘We have a platform on X that is actively promoting people like Joey Barton’s content through the algorithms and the way that X is structured now. I just don’t accept that it’s just a platform for people to express their freedom of speech. I’ve been ousted from the platform and my freedom of speech is not being protected.
‘The freedom of speech of certain people, like Joey Barton, who is hateful and attacks people based on their gender and race, is actively promoted. I think that’s why we really need to start thinking about the responsibility and negligence of social media platforms like X.’
In December and January, Barton repeatedly attacked women working in men’s football.
He called Aluko and Ward ‘the Fred and Rose West of football commentary’. The notorious serial killers are known to have committed at least 12 murders over a 20-year period.
Barton has also argued that Alex Scott ‘shouldn’t be commentating on men’s football’ in one of a number of specific attacks on female broadcasters
Barton threatened to ’empty’ Gary Neville after the presenter confronted him about comparing female football analysts to serial killers
The former Manchester City midfielder has argued that it is “dangerous” to have women working at men’s clubs because of the risk of them sending nude photos to players and having affairs, which “costs people’s marriages”. He claimed he had seen examples of both.
Barton also repeatedly launched tirades against other female football commentators, including Laura Woods, Alex Scott and Bianca Westwood.
On Boxing Day, the 41-year-old hit out at Amazon Prime Video Sport for naming former Liverpool goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis as a commentator for the Reds’ 2-0 win over Burnley, calling her mention “nonsense” and “tokenism”.
After Mary Earps won the Sports Personality of the Year award, he boasted that he would score “100 out of 100 penalties” against the women’s Golden Glove winner.
He previously boasted he would score ‘100 out of 100 penalties’ against Mary Earps after she won the Sports Personality of the Year award in December.
Barton also threatened Gary Neville after the former Manchester United star confronted him and told him: ‘Keep your head down or you’ll get sucked dry’.