Former England footballer Adam Johnson has been found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child but was cleared on a second count.
Jurors at Bradford Crown Court convicted the former Sunderland FC winger by a majority of 10-2 after Judge Jonathan Rose said he would accept a majority verdict.
The 28-year-old admitted grooming a 15-year-old girl and sexual activity with the teenager, relating to kissing her in his Range Rover, but denied the two more serious charges of sexual activity with a child - one involving oral sex and another involving digital penetration.
He was cleared of the oral sex charge this afternoon.
The charges against him arose from a meeting between Johnson and the girl in his car in County Durham on January 30 last year.
Judge Rose said a custodial sentence is "the almost inevitable outcome" but granted Johnson bail until the hearing, which will be held at a later date.
There was no obvious reaction to the verdict from Johnson, who was sitting in the dock with two security guards.
Sunderland AFC, who terminated Johnson's contract when he changed his plea ahead of the trial, released a lengthy statement this afternoon saying they were not advised in advance Johnson would plead guilty to any offence, and had they known he intended to plead guilty to any of the charges, his employment would have been terminated immediately. (Read in full here)
Adam Johnson, the 'stereotypical' modern footballer
Adam Johnson has been portrayed in court as the epitome of the top-flight footballer stereotype - arrogant, spoilt and philandering.
Johnson's own QC told jurors they may well agree with the prosecution's portrayal of his client as "immature, arrogant, promiscuous" and that "the only time he had to fend for himself was on the football field cheered on by thousands of adoring fans".
Talk of his £60,000-a-week wage packet, luxury cars with personalised plates and his £1.8 million, six-bedroom mansion only added to this image.
But it was the "promiscuous" part of this characterisation which led to Johnson's downfall.
Stacey Flounders - until recently Johnson's partner and the mother-of-his one-year-old daughter, Ayla - talked about the "other women" when she gave evidence in the trial.
Miss Flounders, 26, explained to the jury how the player had confessed to cheating on her after he was arrested.
She said he would not tell her how many women there had been, but he said it was "quite a few". And she said she suspected he was unfaithful during her pregnancy.
Johnson admitted his cheating, telling the jury how his relationship was in bad state in January last year because he had been messaging other women.
Kate Blackwell QC, prosecuting, told the jury: "He cheated on his girlfriend and lied and manipulated her in a way which demonstrates his exceptional duplicity."
Miss Flounders appeared to be standing by her man, accompanying him to court for most of the trial.
But, when she took to the witness box, she told the court they were "just going to remain friends" and Johnson's barrister said the relationship was "up in the air".
Johnson was already an England international when he met Miss Flounders in 2011.
She said they were introduced by her cousin and moved into Johnson's home in Castle Eden, County Durham, in 2013 - a nearly new mansion he bought not far from where he grew up.
Born in Sunderland in July 1987, Johnson was brought up in the nearby pit village of Easington.
His talent on the pitch was spotted at an early age.
Father Dave and mother Sonia supported his development, which saw him shine for Peterlee Boys - who won through a national tournament to play at Wembley in 1998.
Middlesbrough took him into their famed academy at the age of 12 and nurtured him, despite his small size.
Boro's youth set-up produced a string of successful players, including future England international Stewart Downing.
However, the word on Teesside that there was an even better prospect following in Downing's footsteps, and that youngster was Johnson.
Current Academy manager Dave Parnaby never had any doubts about his ability.
Parnaby said: "Adam was one of the first players I saw here when I walked through the gates in 1998. I saw this little dot playing on the wing and the first thing I noticed was this ability to dribble and the mentality to want to dribble."
Johnson made his senior debut as a 17-year-old substitute in Boro's 1-0 Uefa Cup defeat by Sporting Lisbon in Portugal on March 17, 2005 and went on to represent the club on 120 occasions either side of loan spells at Leeds and Watford - before winning a £7 million move to Manchester City in February 2010.
Johnson won both the league title and the FA Cup, as well as the first of his 12 England caps, during a two-and-a-half-year stay at the Etihad Stadium.
But then manager Roberto Mancini grew increasingly frustrated with his inconsistency and attitude as the 2011-12 season drew to a close and his days at the club were numbered.
But he was coveted on his native Wearside and Sunderland owner Ellis Short gave then manager Martin O'Neill exactly what he wanted when he sanctioned a £10 million swoop in August 2012.
Johnson took his time to settle into life at the Stadium of Light but, having found his feet, worked his way back into the England squad only for injuries and further inconsistency to cost him his chance to add significantly to his tally of caps.
In all, he made 141 appearances for the club, the last 28 of them following his reinstatement from a suspension imposed after his arrest at his Castle Eden home
No comments:
Post a Comment