Joey Barton prepared to go to prison over Attorney General probe over John Terry tweets

By Sportsmail Reporter

Last updated at 11:39 AM on 5th February 2012

Joey Barton has claimed he is willing to go to prison 'in the name of free speech' after the Attorney General's office said it has been made aware of a series of robust observations on Twitter over the John Terry racism saga. 

Following the stripping of the England captaincy from Terry, Barton took to the micro-blogging website to give his take on the matter.  

The Chelsea skipper had his country's armband taken from him for a second time in the wake of an allegation of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during a match at QPR last year. 

Opposite sides: John Terry (left) and Joey Barton (right)

Terry, who denies the charge, will stand trial in July, just a matter of days after Euro 2012 finishes. 

Barton, who was playing in the match at Loftus Road in October, has defended his comments on the grounds of free speech.  

However a spokesman for the Attorney General's office said: 'I can confirm the Tweets have been brought to our attention and have been viewed.'

At reading the possible punishment on Sunday morning, Barton tweeted: 'I will gladly go to jail for a month, in the name of free speech. I have no problem with what I said. Make me a martyr.......

'What are they going to do put everyone who exercises freedom of speech in jail? They'll be a revolution, if they try that s***.'

Dominic Grieve QC is the current Attorney General.

He is the Government's senior law officer and part of his remit is to make sure people facing criminal allegations receive a fair trial.

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Joey Barton prepared to go to prison over Attorney General probe over John Terry tweets