Joey Barton has apologised and must pay at least £75,000 plus costs to Jeremy Vine after a High Court judge ruled that the former midfielder had posted defamatory comments about the broadcaster on social media.
Vine has indicated that is not the end of the matter, however, with the settlement reached only covering half of the messages that led him to sue the former Manchester City player.
Earlier this year Barton made a series of awful and untrue allegations about Vine’s personal life and his political stances, which the court held to be libellous. Barton had called Vine a ‘bike nonce’ and ‘pedo defender’.
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Jeremy Vine: Joey Barton set to pay further damages beyond £75,000
Barton wrote in his public apology: “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.
“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.”
“Between 8 and 12 January 2024 I published 11 posts which accused Jeremy Vine of having asexual interest in children, and created a hashtag which made the same allegations, which were viewed millions of times. I recognise that this is a…June 18, 2024
In a statement published on X, Vine added further context to the situation: “The news of Joey Barton’s apology and commitment to pay damages and costs is not the final outcome of this case.
“After five defamatory tweets, my lawyer offered Barton a chance to settle: pay £75k, plus my costs, and make an apology.
“He ignored that offer and posted more disgusting tweets about me, even publishing my home address to his followers.
“When I then took my case to the High Court, a judge ruled that TEN of the tweets I complained of were defamatory. Having lost, Barton has returned to the offer we made after tweet 5.
“There has therefore been a parallel action on tweets 6-10 and Barton will pay further damages for these. A number of other steps — including statements made in Court by way of apology — are still to be taken, and Barton has agreed to pay my legal costs of all of the claims.”
Defamation is the civil wrong of causing (or being likely to cause) serious reputational harm.
Vine’s barrister had called Barton’s posts a ‘calculated and sustained attack on Mr Vine’, with Barton’s representative counter-arguing that they were reflective of him ‘posting in the heat of the moment’ and that some were an ‘obvious attempt at humorous abuse’.
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