Joey Barton has formally launched an appeal against his conviction for sending grossly offensive messages on social media, positioning the legal challenge as a battle for free expression.
The former Premier League midfielder, found guilty of targeting broadcaster Jeremy Vine and football pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, announced the move on X this morning.
"My appeal is now formally underway," Barton wrote. "I reject this conviction, and the questions it raises about free expression reach far beyond me."
The 43-year-old pledged to honour the legal process whilst maintaining his innocence.
Joey Barton has appealed his sentence after his conviction for sending grossly offensive messages on social media
|PA
"I've stood by that principle my whole life, and I won't step away from it now," he stated, adding: "When the appeal is complete, I'll speak openly and in full."
Barton's conviction last month stemmed from a series of posts made between January and March 2024.
A jury at Liverpool Crown Court determined he had crossed the boundary separating legitimate commentary from criminal conduct.
The former Newcastle and Manchester City player likened Ward and Aluko to notorious serial killers Fred and Rose West, subsequently superimposing the women's faces onto a photograph of the murderers.
He branded former England international Aluko as belonging to the "Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category", claiming she had "murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans' ears".
When Vine defended the two pundits, Barton labelled him a slang term for paedophile and suggested he would contact police if he spotted the broadcaster cycling near a primary school.
Jeremy Vine was among the three complainants after Joey Barton went on a social media rant | PABarton was convicted on six charges whilst being acquitted on six others.
On Monday, Judge Andrew Menary KC handed Barton a six-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months.
The Honorary Recorder of Liverpool also ordered 200 hours of community service and payment of prosecution costs totalling £23,419.
Two-year restraining orders were imposed preventing any contact with his victims, including references on social media or broadcast platforms.
Judge Menary addressed the limits of acceptable discourse in his sentencing remarks.
"Robust debate, satire, mockery and even crude language may fall within permissible free speech," he stated. "But when posts deliberately target individuals with vilifying comparisons to serial killers or false insinuations of paedophilia, designed to humiliate and distress, they forfeit their protection."
The judge characterised Barton's conduct as "a sustained campaign of online abuse that was not mere commentary but targeted, extreme and deliberately harmful".
Following his sentencing, Barton expressed regret whilst maintaining his actions were misunderstood.
Joey Barton decided to quit social media after his guilty verdict
| PA"If I could turn back the clock I would," he told the BBC. "I never meant to hurt anyone. It was a joke that got out of hand. Nobody wants to go to jail."
During his trial, Barton claimed he was subject to a "political prosecution" and denied seeking attention through his posts.
Victim impact statements painted a starkly different picture of the consequences.
Vine described Barton as "a small man who feeds off the pain of others", calling the experience "profoundly traumatising".
Joey Barton played for clubs including Manchester City, Newcastle and Burnley during his career
| PAAluko stated the comments were "the most offensive criticism she has experienced in her life", leaving her afraid to leave home and causing financial losses.
Ward characterised the posts as "hateful", adding: "I am now constantly afraid, not just of the defendant, but the people he has incited against me."