Broadcaster Jeremy Vine told the court that social media posts made by Joey Barton saying he was a pedophile put him in “physical danger”.
Vine, 60, is accused of being a “nonce” of Barton’s X in 2024, something he says is a “despicable thing that is “evil that says nothing for nothing”.
Speaking at Weatpool Crown Court on Wednesday, he detailed that he was worried about Barton, which caused him to send a serious electronic attack that caused addiction or anxiety, developed an “obsession” with him. Barton denies all charges.
Barton, 43, first accused the grapevine of being a pedophile when the former BBC presenter Barton introduced serial killers and Rose West after a west January 2024 FA Cup that they were working on.
Vine responded to the posts after feeling “shocked by Mr. Barton’s comments about two respected commentators” and reprimanded him, asking if there is brain damage here? “
Barton responded by calling the grape a “big bike that isn’t”. He later asked the grapevine “Are you on Epstein Island?” And “Will you go to these flying logs?”
He went on to tell Vine that he may “as well own up now because I’d phone the police if I saw you near a primary school on ya bike”, and posted an image of Vine with the caption: “If you see this fella by a primary school call 999.”
The vine that Barton posts makes him “feel unsafe” and he fears Barton and his “like-minded” followers.
“If people want to know where you live, they can,” the court chief said. “I need advice about my security, my actions are different. I believe these messages are setting me up for danger, for physical danger.”
Wine also spoke about the mental anguish he felt from the allegations, saying your reputation was “taken from someone I’ve never met.
Representing Barton, Simon Csoka KC claims full of vine “
The grapevine denied this but agreed with CSOKA that his message was meant “as a suicidal Jibe”. “It is true that I sought to help both targets of Mr Barton’s abuse and I may have done so in a slightly different way,” the magistrate told the court. “It just doesn’t justify what follows.”
The trial continues.