The court heard Barton also apologised to the broadcaster in a post on his X account in June 2024, in which he said he had made a “very serious allegation” on social media in which he accused Mr Vine of having a sexual interest in children, which he said was “untrue”.
A jury found Barton, originally of Huyton, Merseyside, but now of now of Widnes, Cheshire, guilty on six of 12 counts between January and March 2024, and not guilty on six counts in November.
The trial heard he had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with six posts.
“He’s got three million followers and he thinks he’s got a licence to tell filthy lies about people and he hasn’t,” Mr Vine said.
“I took a libel case against him, which cost him, by his account, £600,000 so at that point I felt I got satisfaction. The criminal case was an add-on.
“Now he’s got a suspended sentence so he should have learned his lesson but I don’t think he will have.”