The socialist UK government’s war on free expression has just reached a new low after celebrated British soccer star Joey Barton was found guilty on six criminal counts for posting “offensive” messages on social media.
The conviction of the renowned former UK soccer player and team manager is a chilling reminder of how far the country has fallen into speech policing.
On Friday, a Liverpool Crown Court jury declared the 43-year-old had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” by expressing wrongtink online.
The court ruled that Barton had turned everyday online insults into prosecutable offenses in a country that once claimed to value liberty.
One of Barton’s supposed crimes was calling TV host Jeremy Vine a “bike nonce” in posts on 𝕏.
The soccer star made the remark after Vine suggested Barton had a “brain injury.”
No charges were filed against Vine, however.
Barton responded bluntly, asking:
“Have you been on Epstein Island?
“Are you going to be on these flight logs?
“Might as well own up now because I’d phone the police if I saw you near a primary school on ya bike.”
Another post the UK government deemed to be a speech crime read:
“Oh @theJeremyVine Did you Rolf-aroo and Schofield go out on a tandem bike ride?
“You big bike nonce ya.”
The comment appeared to be a reference to Rolf Harris, a former children’s TV host who was convicted of child sex crimes.
Barton was also prosecuted for a post warning:
“If you see this fella by a primary school call 999.
“Beware Man with Camera on his helmets cruising past primary schools.
“Call the Cops if spotted.”
Authorities went further, charging Barton with speech crimes for comparing sports commentators Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko to serial killers Fred and Rose West.
Barton wrote they were the “Fred and Rose West of football commentary.”
In court, Barton said he “would probably not do it again if he had his time again.”
He argued that Ward and Aluko are “strong enough” to handle the joke.
But that wasn’t enough for prosecutors intent on making an example of him.
They claimed Barton “targeted and bullied them” and “crossed the line between exercising a democratic right to freedom of expression and a crime” by “sending messages of an extreme, degrading and dehumanizing character.”
According to prosecutors:
“It was not some robust exchange of firmly held views or, as he would like you to believe, an attempt to generate an online debate.
“It was undiluted bullying.
“It was a campaign of such bullying by the deployment of grossly offensive messages — with the intention of sending them to cause distress, anxiety or humiliation.”
The judge even became visibly irritated when Barton wore a Union Jack scarf in court, a striking symbol of the nation now criminalizing speech while bristling at its own flag.
Judge Andrew Menary KC complained:
“He has chosen to adorn himself with a particular flag, which I suppose is a stunt to make a point.
“He will not be permitted to do that on the sentencing date.”
Barton is out on bail but will be sentenced on December 8.
It’s an incredible fall from grace for the failing nation, once the most powerful in the world, where posting edgy jokes online now carries the threat of prison.
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