Ex QPR and Newcastle United star to pay £75k damages for 'bike nonce' defamation

Former QPR and Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton has apologised to broadcaster Jeremy Vine and forked out £75,000 in damages after being sued for libel and harassment.

The 41-year-old branded Vine a 'big bike nonce' and 'pedo defender' in a series of 14 posts made on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. In a High Court hearing last month, Barton was found to have defamed the presenter when Mrs Justice Steyn ruled that 11 of the posts had defamatory meaning.

The former Premier League player was determined to fight the libel case but has now conceded defeat and published an apology to Vine. Barton will also pay the £75,000 of damages and cover the 59-year-old's legal costs.

The apology, published on X, read: “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 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.”

Barton was a QPR player between 2011 and 2015, making 99 appearances for the club. He was part of the R's side that secured promotion to the Premier League by winning the Championship play-off final in 2014.

He was most recently manager of League One club Bristol Rovers but was sacked from his position in October 2023 with the club 16th after the opening 13 league fixtures.

In court, Barton had argued that he had been 'making fun' of Vine and insisted that no one would believe that he genuinely thought the broadcaster was a paedophile. The online row with Vine took place after the former midfielder made a series of posts criticising female footballers and pundits.

At the High Court, Vine accused Barton of a 'calculated and sustained' online attack against him by likening him to paedophiles Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile and Jeffrey Epstein.