Adam Johnson trial: Girlfriend Stacey Flounders split with footballer after he cheated on her with 'quite a few' women

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/adam-johnson-trial-girlfriend-stacey-flounders-split-with-footballer-after-he-cheated-on-her-with-a6895336.html

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The girlfriend of England footballer Adam Johnson has told a jury that they have now split up and said he had admitted cheating on her with "quite a few" women.

Stacey Flounders - who is the mother of Johnson's one-year-old daughter, Ayla - said the pair would remain friends, as she was asked about their relationship at the former Sunderland winger's trial at Bradford Crown Court.

Miss Flounders wiped away tears in the witness box as she described how the 28-year-old former Sunderland winger had told her "everything" about kissing a 15-year-old girl when he returned from a police station after his arrest in March last year.

Asked if he talked about other things, she said: "The other women that he cheated on me with."

Miss Flounders was asked by Orlando Pownall QC, defending, if he named the women.

She said: "Just one. He wouldn't tell me the other names."

Asked how many there were, she said: "Quite a few."

The 26-year-old was asked by Mr Pownall, defending Johnson, about the future of their relationship.

She replied: "We're just going to remain friends."

Earlier, Mr Pownall asked her why she decided to stay with the player after his arrest.

She replied: "Because he was honest with me and I knew he was telling the truth.

"We'd just had a daughter. I wanted us to be a family."

Talking about messages exchanged with Johnson on the day he kissed the girl, Mr Pownall asked: "Did you suspect that he was cheating on you?"

She replied: "I did, yes."

When the barrister asked if she had any "hard and fast evidence", she said: "No".

Mr Pownall finished his questions by asking Miss Flounders if she saw any future in "the relationship that you had".

She replied: "Do you mean now? Not at the minute, I don't. No."

Miss Flounders was handed a tissue by the court clerk and she dabbed away tears after she was asked about "other women".

Johnson stared at the floor for almost the entirety of Miss Flounders's hour in the witness box.

He sat in the middle of the dock wearing a dark suit, a few seats away from a security officer.

The footballer has pleaded guilty to charges of sexual activity with a child and grooming. These relate to him kissing the teenager in his Range Rover after exchanging messages with her on social media.

But he denies two further charges of sexual activity with a child relating to more serious alleged sexual activity in the vehicle during the same incident, on January 30 last year.

On Thursday, Miss Flounders entered the witness box in the packed courtroom wearing a black jacket over a light blue-grey top and black jeans.

She said Johnson first told her he was going to plead guilty to one charge around September last year.

Miss Flounders said she had exchanged messages on Twitter with the teenager involved after she recognised her as one of the fans who waited for Johnson after home matches.

Asked about when Johnson was arrested at their home in Castle Eden, Co Durham, at 8am on March 2 last year, she said: "My head was all over the place. I didn't know what was going on."

Miss Flounders said: "I asked how old she was. He said she was 16."

Asked what they talked about when he returned from the police station, she said: "I told him he was stupid. I asked him why he did it. He was in shock.

"He realised what he had done and just he said he was being stupid."

Miss Flounders was also asked about an interview her mother gave to the Daily Mirror after the arrest in which said she Johnson was "100% innocent".

She said the information had not come from her and said: "I didn't agree. I knew he had done something wrong."

Kate Blackwell QC, prosecuting, started her cross-examination of Miss Flounders by asking her about her contention that Johnson had "told you everything" when he returned from the police station.

The barrister then asked her a series if questions about some of the details of the encounters between the footballer and the teenager, at each stage asking the witness whether her partner had told her about it.

These details included whether the pair kissed passionately for two minutes, that he caressed her body, that he set up a Snapchat account for the girl, that he asked her for naked photos and that he told her he wanted to get her jeans off.

Each time, in a quiet voice, Miss Flounders said: "No."

She did agree that her partner told her he had asked the girl for a thank you kiss.

Miss Flounders was also asked a series of questions about her partner's pubic hair and asked to examine a photograph of his penis.

She said she had never seen his public area shaved. The teenager involved in the incident has told the jury she noticed Johnson was shaved in that area during their encounter.

The trial continues.

Press Association