Adam Johnson: I used phone to search for legal age of consent during chat with teammates

The court has heard that a Google search for 'legal age of consent' was made on Johnson's phone four days after he met the 15-year-old girl

England footballer Adam Johnson, who has been capped 12 times, arrives at Bradford Crown Court (Press Association)

Adam Johnson has said he searched for the age of consent on the internet after a changing room discussion about laws in different countries.

The former Sunderland winger is on trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.

The court has heard that a Google search for "legal age of consent" was made on Johnson's phone four days after he met the girl in his car on January 30.

Johnson said his Google search had nothing to do with the 15-year-old girl.

The footballer has admitted grooming and kissing the teenager but denies two counts of further sexual activity.

Johnson told the court he knew the age of consent when he asked the girl in December 2014 about when she turned 16. He said he asked the question during a conversation about drinking.

He said he searched the internet for the age of consent after a training session, but added: "It had nothing to do with [her].

"We were having a discussion in the dressing room about a programme that was on a couple of days ago about different ages and things like that.

"There are a lot of players in our team from all sorts of countries and we were having a discussion about laws and ages and things in different parts of the world."

Press Association