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Jury goes out in Adam Johnson trial Jury goes out in Adam Johnson trial
(35 minutes later)
Jurors in the trial of the footballer Adam Johnson have begun considering verdicts on two counts of sexual activity with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.Jurors in the trial of the footballer Adam Johnson have begun considering verdicts on two counts of sexual activity with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
The England midfielder has denied that he and the teenager performed sex acts on each other in his Range Rover car on 30 January last year.The England midfielder has denied that he and the teenager performed sex acts on each other in his Range Rover car on 30 January last year.
He admitting kissing and grooming the girl on the first day of his trial on 10 February. On the first day of his trial Johnson admitted two charges of sexually grooming and kissing the girl. The trial at Bradford crown court ended on Tuesday and the jury of eight women and four men began deliberating their verdicts at 11.52am.
On Tuesday a jury of eight women and four men began deliberating their verdicts on the further two counts at Bradford crown court. Johnson, from Castle Eden in County Durham, sat in the glass-panelled dock at the rear of the court as the jury were sent out. His father, sister and ex-girlfriend Stacey Flounders sat together in the front row of the public gallery, out of his sight.
The judge, Jonathan Rose, sent the jurors out to consider their verdicts at 11.52am. Johnson had denied all four of the allegations until the first day of his trial, when he pleaded guilty to the charges related to grooming and kissing. He continued to deny that he did anything further than kiss the teenager and disputed her allegation that they engaged in two further sexual acts.
Johnson, from Castle Eden in County Durham, sat in the glass-panelled dock at the rear of the court as the jury were sent out. His father, sister and ex-girlfriend Stacey Flounders sat together on the front row of the public gallery, out of his eyeshot. The victim, now 16, was a Sunderland season ticket holder who “idolised” Johnson and regularly waited outside the club’s stadium of Light for a picture withhim, the court had heard.
Johnson had denied all four of the allegations until the first day of his trial, when he pleaded guilty to two counts of grooming and kissing the schoolgirl. They began swapping messages on New Year’s Eve and 18 days later Johnson met the girl to give her a signed Sunderland shirt. The next time they met, on 30 January, they engaged in sexual acts in his car behind a Chinese takeaway in Co Durham.
He continued to deny that he did anything further than kiss the teenager and disputed her allegation that they engaged in two further sex acts. The £60,000-a-week footballer told his trial that Sunderland AFC knew that he admitted kissing and sending explicit messages to the girl as long ago as May 2015.
The victim, now 16, was a Sunderland season ticket holder who “idolised” Johnson and regularly waited outside the club’s Stadium of Light for a picture with her hero, the court has heard. The judge, Jonathan Rose, reminded jurors on Monday that Johnson had admitted lying on eight occasions. However, he said “lies alone cannot prove a case” and that the jury must not assume he is guilty because he lied.
They began swapping messages on New Year’s Eve and 18 days later Johnson met the girl to give her a signed Sunderland shirt. The next time they met, on 30 January, they engaged in sex acts in his car behind a Chinese takeaway in Co Durham. “The prosecution says these lies were told in an attempt to conceal Adam Johnson’s guilt,” he said, butthe defence case was that “such lies as he has told are merely the panicked response of a man who had done wrong by his family”.
Giving evidence, the £60,000-a-week footballer told his trial that Sunderland AFC knew that he admitted kissing and sending explicit messages to the girl as long ago as May 2015. The judge told the jurors they must try to reach unanimous verdicts on both counts.
The judge reminded jurors on Monday that Johnson had admitted lying on eight occasions. However, he said “lies alone cannot prove a case” and that the jury must not assume he is guilty because he lied. “When you retire you must reach verdicts upon which you are all agreed. I can only accept unanimous verdicts in this case - 12-0 is the only possible score,” he said.
He said: “The prosecution says these lies were told in an attempt to conceal Adam Johnson’s guilt.” But he said the defence case was that “such lies as he has told are merely the panicked response of a man who had done wrong by his family”. “You may have heard of majority verdicts. They do not apply in this case and they may never apply in this case.”