UPDATED ' Footballer pleads guilty '

Holding back until Friday when more is released, because at the moment we don't know the full facts.
But what I do know is that he's a stupid idiot for simply cheating on his missus (who is pretty hot), the lad is a very decent football player and he's almost fucked that up for him self at 28, If he is acquitted on all charges then I can only see him staying at Sunderland for the rest of his career or moving abroad because I doubt any Prem team will go after him now

I have heard he didnt actually know how old she is. Not sure how true that is or not. There is also pictures circulating suppose to be of the girl in question and if so you certainly wouldnt question her age if she told you she was 18.

There is a tendancy with something like this to assume he is an evil predator but i dont automatically think thats the case

And where have you heard this?

It is being widely reported by respected media outlets that he groomed her online before he arranged to meet her in person and has also pleaded guilty to that. If that's not being a predator then what is?!?

If he didn't know how old the girl was before meeting her then he wouldn't have pleaded guilty. This isn't some down and out junkie whose been ill advised, it's a millionaire footballer who will have one of the best defence lawyers in the country. If his team saw any avenue to get out of this they would use it, I imagine the evidence left him with no choice but to plead guilty.

If he didn't know how old the girl was before meeting her then he wouldn't have pleaded guilty. This isn't some down and out junkie whose been ill advised, it's a millionaire footballer who will have one of the best defence lawyers in the country. If his team saw any avenue to get out of this they would use it, I imagine the evidence left him with no choice but to plead guilty.

100% spot on. If the best lawyers money can by cant get him out of it then he was obviously banged to rights.

The Guardian are reporting that contact was made between December and February and he met her in January, at which point he knew she was 15, hence the guilty plea.

She could have looked 25 its irrelevant as hes admitted he knew her age before meeting, hence the guilty please. This is not some drinken one night stand in a nightclub where she looked 20 and told him she was 20.

Yep.

I would have some sympathy with him if he met her in a club, both drunk, then found out in the morning how old she was but this clearly isn't the case here. The people who are still trotting out that scenario need to think about it if they were in his position, if you saw any way to get out of it, with the advice and guidance of a world class lawyer, why would you plead guilty?

My guess is there are a number of messages exchanged between the two that 100% nails him and he knows that otherwise if he did know she was 15 he'd still lie that he didn't, he's got so much to lose if found guilty and the odds would be in his favour in a trial (pro footballer always being chased by girls, the family want money etc).

What do they class as groomed online? is that chatting to someone online who is aged under 16 asking to meet?
Doesn't mean he knew her age still? I'm not sure on how it works.

Is it like having sex with someone under 16 is classed as rape etc

The guys a paedo in no other words, regardless the girl may have looked older, he knew she was underage and still wanted a bit of younger fluff, it's disgraceful, I hope the judge gives him the highest possible sentence.

He's admitted to grooming her online and kissing her, apparently he's met her twice and during that time he slept with her on both occasions which will be outlined tomorrow in Court, the guys a scumbag !!

What do they class as groomed online? is that chatting to someone online who is aged under 16 asking to meet?
Doesn't mean he knew her age still? I'm not sure on how it works.

Is it like having sex with someone under 16 is classed as rape etc

Sexual Offences involving the Internet, and 'grooming'

To combat increasing sexual approaches to children on-line, there is a new offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming. This makes it a crime to befriend a child on the Internet or by other means and meet or intend to meet the child with the intention of abusing them. The maximum sentence is 10 years imprisonment.

https://twitter.com/JoshHalliday/with_replies?lang=en

Live tweeting the trial detailing the messages between the two. She said straight off the bat she was 15 and in year ten at school. He will be spending some time in jail for this.

Well reading what's coming out its clear he knew what he was doing.

Well reading what's coming out its clear he knew what he was doing.

I really can't understand his behaviour here. He has the pick of the girls yet decides to risk everything for a quick fumble in his land rover behind a Chinese takeaway with an underage girl. It's weird and incredibly stupid.

Well reading what's coming out its clear he knew what he was doing.

I really can't understand his behaviour here. He has the pick of the girls yet decides to risk everything for a quick fumble in his land rover behind a Chinese takeaway with an underage girl. It's weird and incredibly stupid.

I dont normally buy into the "footballers are thick as shit" excuse thats often rolled out, I think its a cop out, but f*ck me how thick must he be to risk all hes risked (and lost!) for the kind of thing you done when you were 14!!!

BBC

Former Sunderland footballer Adam Johnson "abused his revered position in society" when he had sexual contact with a 15-year-old fan, a court has heard.

The 28-year-old, who has 12 England caps, is on trial accused of sexual activity with a child.

Prosecutors said it was "in a way that he knew was both morally and legally wrong".

The footballer denies two charges of sexual activity with a girl under 16.

The alleged victim was 15 in December 2014 when Johnson was living with his then pregnant partner, Stacey Flounders, in Castle Eden, County Durham, Bradford Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Kate Blackwell QC said the girl was a passionate Sunderland Football Club fan and "idolised" Mr Johnson, who was her favourite player.

"After matches, she would hang around waiting for a glimpse of him, wanting to get a photograph, often sporting a Sunderland shirt with Johnson's name emblazoned across the back," she told the court.

"What has brought the defendant to this courtroom is a sexual desire for (the girl), an excessive arrogance and an unwarranted level of expectation."

Miss Blackwell said the girl had "an enormous crush" on the footballer and made a Facebook friend request to him just before New Year 2015.

The jury was read an exchange of messages between the pair in which he arranged to meet her to sign a football shirt but she made it clear she had only just turned 15.

Mr Johnson had researched "legal of age of consent" on the internet, jurors heard.

The prosecutor said: "The Crown suggest that such a search to satisfy such an interest is unlikely to have resulted from a kiss and no more than a kiss, as the defendant contends."

The pair met up on 17 January 2015 near a Chinese takeaway close to the girl's home. She got into his black Range Rover, where he signed football shirts, the court heard.

After the meeting they exchanged further messages, discussing whether Mr Johnson deserved a thank you kiss for the shirt-signing "or more".

Miss Blackwell said the pair met again, on 30 January, when they had sexual contact in the footballer's car at the same location.

She told the jury: "What happened in that car on that evening is for you to decide.

"The Crown's case is that sexual activity took place, that the defendant and (the girl) kissed, with tongues, for some time during which the defendant unbuttoned her jeans and undid the zip.

"The defendant then stopped what he was doing. He did not, as he would have you believe, have a sudden pang of conscience, an epiphany, an experience of sudden and striking realisation."

Miss Blackwell said the defendant then drove to "a more secluded place" as he was expecting "further sexual contact" and he wanted to ensure that they "could not be overlooked".

The prosecutor then described further sexual activity and said there was a further exchange of messages between them after the encounter.

In one, Mr Johnson said to the girl: "It was class."

He added: "Just wanted to get your jeans off, LOL."

The girl replied: "Next time."

Mr Johnson, who was born in Sunderland, began his career at Middlesbrough before moving to Manchester City and then on to Sunderland for £10m in 2012.

The trial continues.

The footballer has previously pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child and one charge of grooming. He was sacked by Sunderland as a result.

He had been Google age of consent ffs