Adam Johnson: Teenage girl says footballer ‘made me out to be a liar'

The alleged victim said she has stopped trying to ‘protect’ the footballer 

Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith
Tuesday 16 February 2016 13:39 GMT
Adam Johnson admits engaging in sexual activity with the girl, but denies two more serious charges
Adam Johnson admits engaging in sexual activity with the girl, but denies two more serious charges

A teenage girl has broken down in court after claiming that footballer Adam Johnson “made me out to be a liar” over allegations of sexual activity with a child.

Appearing via video link, the alleged victim, now aged 16, told Bradford Crown Court about sex acts that allegedly took place in the footballer’s Range Rover when she was 15-years-old.

Mr Johnson, 28, has previously pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child and one charge of grooming in relation to the incident.

Mr Johnson currently stands accused of two counts of sexual activity with a child which prosecutors have described as “more serious”. He denies the charges.

The girl claimed she had been trying to protect the former Sunderland player when she omitted details of the more serious sexual activity.

When Orlando Pownall QC, defending Mr Johnson, asked the teenager is she was still trying to protect the footballer, she replied: “No, because he did nothing to protect me and he made me out to be a liar.”

Referring to a Snapchat message in which she said Mr Johnson was “picking me up this week and I’m riding him,” the girl, who became upset and cried while she gave much of her evidence, said the messages she posted on social media about Mr Johnson had been about “bigging herself up”.

“I was trying to big myself up as any 15-year-old girl would.

“When you idolise someone and that happens to you, you’re not thinking at the time.”

Mr Pownall again asked the girl whether she was just trying to protect herself. She said: "I wasn't protecting myself. It made no difference to me whether they knew about me and Adam Johnson. It was him who was going to suffer for it."

The girl broke down in tears and requested a break. Afterwards she told the court that when she and Mr Johnson had been messaging each other in December 2014 before she had met up with him in his car, she found the exchange “creepy”.

"I thought that when I told him my age he would have backed off. Who just asks for a random fan's number?"

Later, the girl told the jury: "Someone texting a 15-year-old girl - they're not completely normal."

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by PA

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in