{"id":468188,"date":"2026-03-10T18:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/468188\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T18:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:12:11","slug":"joey-barton-ordered-to-pay-eni-aluko-over-300000-after-losing-libel-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/468188\/","title":{"rendered":"Joey Barton ordered to pay Eni Aluko over \u00a3300,000 after losing libel case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Joey Barton was sued for libel by former England striker Eni Aluko and has now been told to pay over \u00a3300,000 in damages and legal costs after losing the case<\/p>\n<p>13:05, 10 Mar 2026Updated 13:05, 10 Mar 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Joey Barton\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_FILES-BRITAIN-FBL-COURT-BARTON-INTERNET.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Joey Barton has been ordered to pay Eni Aluko\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Joey Barton has been ordered to pay Eni Aluko(Image: AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Joey Barton has been told to pay Eni Aluko more than \u00a3300,000 in damages and legal costs after he was sued for libel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Former England forward and pundit Aluko brought legal action against Barton over two posts he made in 2024 on social media site X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">On Tuesday, the High Court heard the case had been stayed, with Barton to pay \u201csubstantial\u201d damages and Aluko\u2019s legal costs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Gervase de Wilde, for Aluko, said that in the two X posts Barton had wrongly claimed she had \u201ccynically sought to exploit her status as an alleged victim of racism and bullying\u201d, and that she was a hypocrite.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36843408\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/pep-lijnders-liverpool-guardiola-ban-36843408\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pep Lijnders to manage Man City against Liverpool after Pep Guardiola banned for FA Cup tie<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36838740\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/horse-racing\/cheltenham-festival-newsboy-tips-tuesday-36838740\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cheltenham tips: Tuesday&#8217;s best bets for EVERY race from our top tipster Newsboy<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Barton \u2013 who has managed Fleetwood and Bristol Rovers \u2013 did not attend the hearing, with Mr de Wilde telling the court that he \u201cwas arrested yesterday and is currently being held in custody\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The barrister said that between January and August 2024, Barton published 48 posts relating to Aluko on his X account, adding that he had \u201ccarried out a deliberately targeted public campaign of vilification\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Mr de Wilde said one post included an image of Aluko\u2019s head superimposed onto serial killer Rosemary West\u2019s body.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Former footballer and pundit, Eni Aluko looks on prior to the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 qualifying match between England and France at St James' Park on May 31, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_GettyImages-2155717865.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Eni Aluko was targeted by Joey Barton on social media\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Eni Aluko was targeted by Joey Barton on social media(Image: 2024 Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He continued: \u201cThe campaign amounted to an attack on multiple aspects of her life and personality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cMr Barton\u2019s campaign caused Ms Aluko enormous distress. When she sought to defend herself against Mr Barton\u2019s conduct, and that of his followers, he criticised and attacked her for doing so,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Mr de Wilde said Aluko was worried that however she tried to stop the harassment, Barton \u201cwould exploit and manipulate it to use against her\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The barrister continued: \u201cMr Barton has now accepted that his campaign against Ms Aluko amounted to harassment and that he should not have made the publications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Joey Barton\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_Joey-Barton-court-case.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Joey Barton has been ordered to pay \u00a3339,000\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Joey Barton has been ordered to pay \u00a3339,000(Image: PA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">According to a court order seen by the Press Association, Barton has been told to pay \u00a3339,000 \u2013 with the first \u00a3100,000 plus interest due by March 24.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Mr Justice Lavender granted Barton seven days to ask to change the order.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Aluko attended the London court on Tuesday and told PA after the hearing: \u201cI\u2019m glad it\u2019s the end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joey Barton was sued for libel by former England striker Eni Aluko and has now been told to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[154998,218,3996,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-468188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-eniola-aluko","tag-football","tag-joey-barton","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}