Joey Barton pays Jeremy Vine £75k and issues grovelling apology after 'bike nonce' post

Joey Barton has issued an apology to broadcaster Jeremy Vine and agreed to pay £75,000 in damages to settle a High Court libel claim.

In a statement on a social media platform, former Manchester City midfielder Barton admitted that his allegations against Vine, which included calling him a "bike nonce", were "untrue". Vine had taken legal action against Barton for libel and harassment following 14 posts online, where Barton labelled Vine as a "big bike nonce" and a "pedo defender".

Last month, a High Court judge determined that 11 of these posts could be defamatory towards Vine. Barton acknowledged in his statement: "Between 8 and 12 January 2024 I published 11 posts which accused Jeremy Vine of having a sexual interest in children, and created a hashtag which made the same allegations, which were viewed millions of times.

"I recognise that this is a very serious allegation. It is untrue. I do not believe that Mr Vine has a sexual interest in children, and I wish to set the record straight.

ALSO READ: Man City already handed crucial title advantage over Arsenal and Liverpool

ALSO READ: Man City Premier League 2024/25 fixtures in full as Blues face Chelsea on opening day

"I also published posts during the same period in which I referred to Mr Vine having advocated forced vaccination during the Covid 19 pandemic, based upon a video clip of his TV programme. I accept that he did not advocate this policy and that the video clip has been edited to give a misleading impression of what he was in fact saying.

"I then taunted and abused Mr Vine for bringing a legal complaint against me. I have agreed not to make the same allegations again about Mr Vine and I apologise to him for the distress he has suffered."

"To resolve his