Former Newcastle United footballer Joey Barton has been convicted of sending grossly offensive social media posts about broadcaster Jeremy Vine and TV pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court found Barton, 43, had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with six posts he made on X, formerly Twitter.

He was cleared of six other counts that he sent a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety between January and March 2024.

Following a televised FA Cup tie in January 2024 between Crystal Palace and Everton, he likened Ward and Aluko in a post on X to the “Fred and Rose West of football commentary”.

He went on to superimpose the faces of the two women on to a photograph of the serial murderers.

Barton also tweeted Aluko was in the “Joseph Stalin/Pol Pot category” as that she had “murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans’ ears”.

Jurors found him not guilty on the Stalin/Pol Pot comparison, and also the commentary analogy with the Wests, but ruled...