Broadcaster and former footballer Lucy Ward has told a jury she felt “intimidated” and “physically scared” by social media posts made by Joey Barton. The 51-year-old was giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday in the case against the former footballer and manager, who is accused of 12 counts of sending grossly offensive electronic communications with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
The ex-Manchester City and Newcastle United player, 43, is alleged to have crossed the line between free speech and crime with messages on X about Ward, fellow football pundit Eni Aluko and broadcaster Jeremy Vine. The court heard that Barton, who has 2.7 million followers on X, compared Ward and Aluko to serial killers Fred and Rose West in a post made after an FA Cup tie in January 2024. He later posted an image of the Wests with Ward and Aluko’s faces superimposed.
When asked by prosecutor Peter Wright KC how the posts affected her, Ward said she “knew he would get to me at one point” due to Barton’s general view that women should not comment on men’s football. She described the posts as abuse, saying: “I’m trying to do my job. I am one of the few females doing it and I have already crossed over a lot of barriers. It’s tough to do your job with that happening.” She added: “Fred and Rose West tortured, sexually abused and killed children, so I couldn’t really work out why I was being called that.”
Ward told the court she felt “anxious” because “you can’t escape someone who has more than 2.5 million followers”, and that it got “to the stage now where I got a little scared, physically scared really”. She said she thought it was “going to explode in a really negative way” and described the experience as “continuous harassment” and “bullying”. She added: “You don’t know who is out there and how they are going to react, especially in this day and age. I felt vulnerable going to games.”
Representing Barton, Simon Csoka KC argued that the difference in quality between men’s and women’s football is stark, and asked if Ward understood that Barton’s posts were merely an analogy that “you are doing a bad job, you are murdering it week in, week out, effectively?” Ward replied that she understood that, but still found the comparisons “offensive” and “horrific”. Barton, from Widnes, Cheshire, denies the alleged offences said to have been committed between January and March last year.
