Joey Barton branded 'an undiluted, unapologetic bully' not a 'free speech crusader' as jury considers verdicts in 'offensive tweets' trial

Former footballer Joey Barton is 'an undiluted, unapologetic bully' and not 'the free speech crusader he paints himself to be,' a jury was told today. 

Far from being a 'martyr' sacrificed 'on the altar of political correctness', the ex-Manchester City and Newcastle midfielder 'simply descended into behaviour that was worthy only of the gutter', according to prosecutors.

Barton, 43, is on trial accused of 12 counts of posting 'grossly offensive' tweets about women football commentators Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko and also broadcaster Jeremy Vine.

The jury at Liverpool Crown Court were sent out to consider their verdicts at lunchtime today.

Prosecutors claim that the tweets - in which Barton compared Ward and Aluko to serial killers Fred and Rose West and labelled Mr Vine 'a bike nonce' - were intended to cause distress and anxiety.

But before the jury retired, Barton's barrister told them that being able to say things which are 'hurtful, offensive and in bad taste' was a price worth paying to preserve the 'cherished' right to free speech.

Prosecutor Peter Wright KC told the jury in his closing speech that Barton was not on trial for using words that are considered simply to be offensive.

'He is on trial because on each of those occasions he crossed the line,' he said. 'He crossed the line by some considerable margin and he did it again and again.

'He crossed the line between exercising a democratic right to freedom of expression, however unpleasant in terms of exercising it, and a crime.

'This was not a robust exchange of firmly held views. It was undiluted bullying of another. It was a campaign of such bullying.

'He is just simply an undiluted, unapologetic bully. 

'A little bully who takes pleasure sitting there with his phone in his hand and then posting these slurs.'

'He is not some form of political prisoner. 

'He is simply a little bully who has been found out but like most bullies he didn't like it when those posts were met by a dignified silence or a rebuke in the form of a public disapproval.

'The sad reality is that this man simply descended into behaviour that was worthy only of the gutter.

'Joseph Barton is not a proponent of free speech. He is just an undiluted, unreconstructed cyberbully.'

Barton's barrister Simon Csoka KC, told the jury in his closing speech that they could not be sure that Barton had 'crossed the line of what is tolerable in a free society where free speech is valued.'

'Free speech is so valuable and it needs to be protected and cherished,' he said. 

'But there is a price to be paid for that and one of the prices is that people will say things that are hurtful, offensive and in bad taste.

'They may get it wrong as a wind up and may not realise the impact of what they say. 

'They may make vile jokes but these are all things which can be tolerated because free speech is so important. 

'Is that not a price worth paying?'

Mr Csoka said it was obvious that the tweets referencing Fred and Rose West were never intended to suggest that Ward and Aluko were serial killers.

He also said it was obvious that calling Mr Vine 'a bike nonce' was not suggesting the broadcaster was a paedophile.

Mr Csoka said he accepted that Barton had used 'puerile and vulgar expressions in a cack-handed attempt at being sardonic.'

But he said: 'Are you going to draw the line there? 

'These idiotic, immature tweets do not go beyond the line. 

'Do you not think that there was some misjudgement by Mr Barton here? That he did not think it through?

'But someone is entitled to wind up another person. 

'You cannot be sure that the tweets were intended to cause anxiety or distress and crossed the line of what is tolerable in society.'

Barton denies 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety.