Footballer Adam Johnson’s messages to girl ‘grooming in its purest form’

Johnson, 28, has admitted one charge of sexual activity with a child in relation to the incident in a vehicle in January past year.

When asked by Mr Pownall about the future of her and Johnson’s relationship today, Miss Flounders replied: “We’re just going to remain friends”.

Former Sunderland winger Adam Johnson had “feelings” for the 15-year-old girl he allegedly had a sexual encounter with, a court hears.

The witness was also asked about an interview her mother gave to the press after the arrest in which said she Johnson was “100% innocent”.

Mr Pownall said: “It’s plain Sunderland Football Club knew exactly what was going on, they choose for what ever reason, rightly or wrongly, whether for commercial considerations or in the knowledge they were facing relegation, they allowed him to play”.

The player pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child and one count of sexual grooming on February 11, the date listed for the first day of his trial. Durham, admits grooming and kissing a 15-year-old girl.

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 previous year.

In the prosecution’s closing speech, Miss Blackwell said Mr Johnson was a man who had “pretty much everything” but cheated on his girlfriend, Stacey Flounders, the mother of his daughter, in a way that “demonstrated his exceptional duplicity”. “We just had a daughter I wanted to be a family”.

Ms Blackwell said that Johnson “gradually manipulated the teenage girl” through the 834 Whatsapp messages the pair exchanged and that he engaged in two sex acts in his parked up Range Rover with the schoolgirl, which he denies.

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

She added: “She was under the influence of an experienced older adult, a man nearly twice her age”.

Miss Blackwell said there was no evidence that the girl made the complaint to get Johnson into trouble and said her parents made the decision to go to the police.

“The fact that he was given the green light to continue playing for his club was not a green light to continue lying to the courts”.

The girlfriend of soccer player Adam Johnson was called to give evidence at Bradford Crown Court, this Thursday.

He said: ‘Harsh though it may be, she has lied’.

Miss Flounders was asked by Mr Pownall if he named the women.

Johnson’s former partner, Stacey Flounders, earlier told the court he used scissors to trim his pubic hair but never shaved it off completely.

Mr Pownall accepted that Johnson is “the villain of the piece”, adding: ‘He should have been supporting his girlfriend not cheating an sending messages to a teenager’.