Joey Barton faces legal action over 'dangerous' social media posts as Government takes aim

Joey Barton has been warned he faces Government and legal action over his social media posts, the Sports Minister has confirmed.

Stuart Andrews has announced that he will see what can be done about the former midfielder's conduct, which involves a host of abusive messages about women in football. According to the Telegraph, one woman has now instructed lawyers over “defamatory” abuse she has received from the man last in football as Bristol Rovers boss.

He has engaged in a campaign of messages directed at women in the sport over the last month, including the comparison of ITV pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward to Fred and Rose West, two of Britain’s worst serial killers. The broadcaster blasted those remarks and now Andrews will see if social media companies can get involved. He said: "These are dangerous comments that open the floodgates for abuse and that is not acceptable."

The Sports Minister is looking at what powers could be available to Ofcom to tackle Barton’s posts under the new Online Safety Bill. And he will also "happily" speak with social media companies to see what, if any, action can be taken.

Andrew’s pledge was mere minutes after Barton was contacted by a lawyer representing a woman he had labelled as a “grifter”. Barton had an online row with TV and radio historian Louise Raw, who critiqued him for comments he made about his brother, Michael, and his part in the racist murder of black teenager Anthony Walker. Barton accused her of being a “pure grifter” after a GoFundMe campaign that she fronted last year to bring legal action against presenter Jeremy Clarkson for remarks against the Dutchess of Sussex.

Lawrence Davies, the chief executive of Equal Justice, responded to Barton on X: “Dear Mr Barton We act