Joey Barton calling broadcaster Jeremy Vine a “bike nonce” on social media did have a defamatory meaning, a UK High Court judge has ruled.
The radio and TV presenter is suing the former footballer for libel and harassment over 14 online posts, including where he called Mr Vine a “big bike nonce” and a “pedo defender” on X, formerly Twitter.
At a preliminary hearing earlier this month, Mrs Justice Steyn was asked to decide several early issues in the case, including the “natural and ordinary” meanings of the posts and whether they were statements of fact or opinion.
On Friday, the judge ruled that 11 of the posts could defame Mr Vine.
She said: “The strong impression gained by the assertion the claimant is known as ‘aka’ ‘bike nonce’, followed immediately by the further assertion that he is known as, again, ‘aka’ ‘pedo defender’, is that the term ‘nonce’ was being used in its primary meaning to allege the claimant has a sexual interest in children.
“While I do not consider that the hypothetical reader, who would read the post quickly and move on, would infer a causative link, ie that the claimant defends paedophiles because he shares the same propensity, the juxtaposition of the words ‘nonce’ and ‘pedo’ is striking and would reinforce the impression that the former was used in the sense of ‘paedophile’.
“The reader would have understood that the word ‘bike’ was a meaningless aspect of the accusation, serving only as an indication that this was a label attached to the claimant, who was known as a cyclist, without detracting from the operative word ‘nonce’.”
