I am struggling to fix the following SQL error:

SQLSTATE[42S22]: Column not found: 1054 Unknown column '1' in 'where clause' (SQL: select count(*) as aggregate from users where 1 = GoodBytesUK)

I have a form to update the users profile, which is submitted to profile.update

{{ Form::model($user->profile, ['method' => 'PATCH', 'route' => ['profile.update', $user->username]]) }}
...

my update function

	public function update($username)
	{
		$user = $this->getUserByUsername($username); // grabs the username (probably where the error is coming from)

		$input = Input::only('username', 'email', 'location', 'twitter_username', 'soundcloud_username');

		$rules = [
			'username' => 'required|unique:users,'.$user['id'],
			'email' => 'required|email|unique:users,'.$user['id'],
			'password' => 'sometimes|required|confirmed,'.$user['id']
		]; // appending user id so that it will ignore the required rule
		
		$validator = Validator::make($input, $rules);

		if ($validator->fails())
		{
    	echo $validator->messages();
		}
		else
		{
			$user->save();
			return Redirect::route('registration.edit', $user->username); // save the update and redirect
		}

getUserByUsername is:

	public function getUserByUsername($username)
	{
		return User::whereUsername($username)->firstOrFail();
	}

Any ideas? i can't seem to get passed it.

It looks like the number 1, which is the actual user id, is being picked up as the column name, which should be user_id