It’s been a hell of a few weeks for Joey Barton. Not only has he been forced to pay out £75,000+ to Jeremy Vine over the infamous bike nonce Tweet, he’s now also discovered that the police are charging him with ‘malicious communications’ over his Tweets to arch nemesis Eni Aluko.

Here’s how Joey Barton reacted to the charges on X:

Joey Barton had sent all sorts of abuse in Aluko’s direction over the last year, but it seems the Tweet that really landed him in trouble came back in January where he compared her and fellow pundit Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West, who murdered 12 women and young girls over the course of 20 years:

Apparently not the sort of thing you can Tweet over social media without getting yourself into legal trouble. Who knew?

Aluko explained to BBC Breakfast in February how her life has been impacted by Joey Barton’s Tweets:

“I can only describe it as waves caving in on you. I think the nature of Joey Barton’s tweets were consecutive over the course of a week. There were several tweets, he continued to double-down even after ITV came out in mine and Lucy Ward’s defence, and actually was deliberately trying to get worse.”

Here are some more examples of the sorts of things Barton was Tweeting about Aluko:

Cry me a fucking river…

I was waiting for the victim card to be played.

Eni, sorry luv, you’re dreadful as a pundit.

Tone deaf, can’t count and most importantly you know next to nothing about men’s football.

You should have ran off to a desert island after your ‘Arteta… pic.twitter.com/uc4tbzrLdv

— 👑 Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) January 17, 2024

What surprised me the most is all her colleagues and peers saying she’s was ‘smashing it’s to her face.

Done well to keep a straight face the fella. 🥷

Someone’s a bad baldy tire. 🤣

Meritocracy Rules 👑

— 👑 Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) January 17, 2024

Who is the worst out of these Mens football pundits?

— 👑 Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) January 17, 2024

I’m aware the list is of 4 is giving you a tough choice. Very, ugly girls… 🤣#QuestionTime

— 👑 Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) January 17, 2024

Brutal stuff. I know there are a lot of people who agree with Joey Barton’s sentiments on Eni Aluko, women’s football and women’s punditry on the men’s game, but he probably shouldn’t have made his point in the style of an internet troll who’s getting off on the idea that he’s prompted thousands of likeminded trolls to harass a woman on social media.

I mean, I get that this viral image might have touched a nerve, but that’s hardly Aluko’s fault:

I guess Joey Barton will have to hope and pray that the courts are more sympathetic to him than they were during the Jeremy Vine case. Maybe they’ll buy his excuse that he’s only attacking Eni Aluko because he ‘cares about women’s mental health’? Strong argument there.