Joey Barton pays Jeremy Vine £75k and makes grovelling apology for 'bike nonce' Twitter post

Joey Barton has agreed to pay Jeremy Vine damages and legal costs after calling the broadcaster a 'bike nonce' during exchanges on social media earlier this year

Joey Barton has issued a grovelling apology to Jeremy Vine and paid him £75,000 after calling the broadcaster a 'bike nonce' on Twitter.

Vine sued Barton for libel and harassment over 14 online posts, with the two parties now deciding to settle the case. The posts saw Barton call Vine a 'big bike nonce' and a 'pedo defender'.

Last month High Court judge Justice Steyn ruled that 11 of the posts could defame Vine. On May 9, Vine's barrister Gervase de Wilde told the hearing in London that the abuse began after Barton's comments on women, particularly in the media and involved in football, starting from the end of 2023.

Following a social media post in which Barton compared female pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West, Vine questioned the comments and whether the former footballer had a brain injury.

In response, Barton launched a "calculated and sustained attack on Vine" in January this year, Vine's barrister said. Barton published several posts over the following days to his 2.8 million followers and began using "#bikenonce" on X, which led to it trending on the platform, the court was told.

Vine's barrister said that the posts contained "clear references to (Vine) having a sexual interest in children" and that the word "nonce" had "an irreducible, defamatory meaning". William McCormick KC, for Mr Barton, stated the posts contained "vulgar abuse" but did not libel Vine and represented "someone who is posting in the heat of the moment".

Barton, who has been out of work since being sacked by Bristol Rovers last October, has now agreed to pay Vine £75,0000 in damages and legal costs. He also posted a grovelling apology on social media.

"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," Barton wrote.

"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."

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