Joey Barton charged over comments made about football pundit Eni Aluko

Joey Barton has been charged with alleged 'malicious communications' by Cheshire Police over comments made towards Eniola Aluko.

The charges relate to messages posted between January 1 and 18, Cheshire Police have confirmed.

Barton will appear at Warrington Magistrates' Court on July 30.

A Cheshire Police spokesperson stated: "A man from Widnes has been summoned to court to face charges of malicious communications.

"Following an investigation by Cheshire Police, the Crown Prosecution Service has since authorised the charges for Joseph Barton."

Though Cheshire Police did not reference Aluko in their statement, Barton said in a now-deleted post on Twitter that the charges were related to messages about the former Chelsea and Juventus striker.

Aluko, who scored 33 goals for England during her playing career, confirmed in January that she had instructed lawyers to launch legal proceedings over a post from Barton which 'made untrue, inaccurate and defamatory allegations about me and my family'.

In a separate post, she said that she had felt 'scared' to leave the house following online abuse in general.

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Aluko explained: "I felt like something was going to happen to me. And I don't say that for anyone to feel sorry for me, I say that for people to understand the reality and the impact that hate speech has; the impact that racism has; the impact that sexism and misogny has on all of us females in the game."

The 37-year-old works as a pundit for ITV, TNT Sports and Amazon Prime among others, and occasionally co-commentates on matches involving the Lionesses on Channel 4. She is also part of the Mercury/13 investment group, which owns a controlling stake in Como Women.

As a player, she won the Women's Super League four times with Chelsea, and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2022.

Barton, meanwhile, retired from playing in 2017 and has had managerial spells with Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers.

The former Manchester City and Burnley midfielder has not been involved in management since being sacked by the latter in October 2023.