Adam Johnson child sex trial: Footballer 'carried out an internet search on the legal age of consent'

Coverage as it happened on Friday from Bradford Crown Court, where former Sunderland and England footballer is on trial charged with two child sex offences:

Prosecution opening ends

The prosecution opening is now complete and the trial has been adjourned until Monday.

Johnson messaged both alleged victim and girlfriend

Johnson told police that he had kissed the girl but then had realised what he was doing was wrong after thinking about his girlfriend and new baby daughter.

Ms Blackwell said his actions at the time did not support that suggestion.

The jury was told that at the same time he was sending messages to the alleged victim about their sexual encounter, he was also in touch with his girlfriend, Miss Flounders about their baby daughter.

At 6.37pm his girlfriend sent him a message about their baby daughter: "How cute is she here? Best picture I have of her."

Seconds later the footballer sent a message to the alleged victim about wanting to "get her jeans off next time".

Just 13 seconds after that message, he responded to his girlfriend, writing: "Yeah, she looks class, changing loads."

Miss Flounders replied: "Yes, she is perfect. Just makes you want to have more and more doesn't it?"

Miss Blackwell said: "These are not the actions of someone whose moral compass, having momentarily wobbled, quickly returned to a proper course."

Johnson 'lied' to girlfriend

The defendant was arrested at home on March 2 on suspicion of sexual activity with a child.

The court was told Johnson reacted by saying: "I only gave her a couple of shirts."

His girlfriend, Miss Flounders asked him how old she was and he replied: "Well, she said she was 16."

Ms Blackwell said: "This was a lie. The defendant knew from the moment that the two of them began to correspond that she was just 15.

"She had never pretended otherwise and his legal research had given him the irrefutable knowledge that being under 16 presented him with a rather large problem and he knew it."

Alleged victim broke down to parents

The case of Adam Johnson has resumed following the lunchtime adjournment.

Ms Blackwell said the allegations came to the attention of the police when rumours started to circulate among the girl's friendship group.

The girl then started to feel "embarrassed, worried and generally bad" about what had gone on.

The court was told that a Facebook groupchat began in which she was referred to as a "slag".

Ms Blackwell said: "She broke down in desperation and panic. In her words she was getting 'chewed up' about it, was crying and out of control.

"She told her father, who told her mother, who insisted they went to the police."

Johnson 'carried out an internet search on the legal age of consent'

The jury was told Johnson also wrote to her: "I will last ten seconds though...because it will be too good...you felt very turned on."

Ms Blackwell said following the encounter Johnson had carried out an internet search on the legal age of consent.

She said: "You may wonder what the defendant was doing, why he had an interest in such matters. Was it because he was concerned about the sexual behaviour they had engaged in on January 30 in his car or was it because he was planning to see her again and take things even further?"

The court has now adjourned for lunch.

The second alleged meeting

The court was told that the pair met again in his car on January 31.

Ms Blackwell told the jury: "What happened in the car 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 inserted his fingers into her vagina."

The court was told they then moved to a more secluded area where she briefly performed oral sex on him.

After the encounter Johnson began messaging her again, while she was at a pantomime, telling her: "It was class, just wanted to get your jeans off."

She replied: "Next time, deffo."

'Thought I would have got a thank-you kiss'

During one exchange Johnson wrote: "Thought I would have got a thank-you kiss for the shirt."

She replied: "Didn't ask."

Johnson responded: "Well I will come and get one."

She responded: "Will you?"

He replied: "If you want me to."

Johnson exchanged 'flirtatious messages'

The court was told after exchanging a series of flirtatious messages the pair arranged to meet on January 17 following a Sunderland away match.

They met shortly after 9pm close to a Chinese takeaway, with Johnson offering to give her a signed football shirt.

She was with one of her friends and when she saw his black Range Rover car her friend said: "Oh my God, there he is."

Johnson 'arranged to meet girl in a secluded spot'

Ms Blackwell told the court: "So over the course of New Year's Eve the defendant was made aware that the girl was 15. One month passed her 15th birthday, with almost a year to wait until she became 16."

She went on: "He made a suggestion that they meet up so that he could give her a signed football shirt. If this was the only intention in his mind, you may wonder why the issue of her age and the time at which she would reach her 16th birthday was raised by him at all."

The court was told Johnson arranged to meet the girl in a secluded spot near a Chinese takeaway.

Prosecution say Johnson asked girl: 'When are you 16?'

The court heard how on New Year's Eve, Johnson and the alleged victim began communicating on social media.

The jury were told she initially did not believe it was him.

She wrote: "Is this Adam?...it's just surreal...like you are my favourite footballer."

She asked him to update his Twitter site so that she could be sure he was who he said he was.

He wrote: "I never update my Twitter, there must be something else...this is me trust me."

He told her she could not tell anyone they were communicating.

It is alleged he then asked her: "Are you in the last year of school?"

She responded: "Year 10."

He then offered to send her a signed shirt, or meet her to sign one.

Johnson then asked where she went out.

The alleged victim responded: "I'm not old enough to go out."

He responded: "Yeah but you look old enough...when are you 16?"

She replied: "November"

He responded: "Ages then?"

Alleged victim had 'idolised' star

The jury was told that the alleged victim had an "enormous crush" on Johnson and had lots of pictures on her Facebook wall of the player.

"He was her absolute hero. She idolised him," Ms Blackwell explained

In December 2014 the alleged victim sent Johnson a friend request on Facebook and he responded asking for her mobile phone number.

He also sent her his personal number, something he had never done before with a fan, the court was told.

They then began communicating using the WhatsApp site.

Ms Blackwell explained that Johnson had suggested that she delete messages from her phone but she had ignored his request.

Johnson's girlfriend hears allegations

The jury was told that it was not their job to be the judge of morals but to decide whether Johnson had engaged in sexual activity with the girl knowing that she was under the age of consent.

It is alleged that the girl performed oral sex on Johnson and that he also digitally penetrated her.

As Ms Blackwell outlined the case, Johnson's 26-year-old girlfriend, Stacey Flounders, sat in the public gallery listening intently to the evidence.

His father was also in court to support his son.

Johnson had his £50,000 a week contract with Sunderland terminated on Thursday following his two guilty pleas earlier in the week.

Case against Adam Johnson opens

The prosecution case against former Sunderland and England player Adam Johnson has opened at Bradford Crown Court.

Johnson, who pleaded guilty to one count of grooming and one count of sexual activity with a child earlier this week, is facing two charges.

He is accused of two counts of sexual activity with a teenage schoolgirl.

The jury was told that the victim in the case was a 15-year-old girl who enjoyed dancing, playing football and hanging out with her friends.

But Kate Blackwell QC, prosecuting, said the teenager's real passion was Sunderland Football Club.

"She was a season ticket holder and rarely missed a home game. Her favourite player was Adam Johnson. After matches she would hang around waiting for a glimpse of him, waiting to get a photo, often sporting a Sunderland shirt with Johnson's name emblazoned across the back."

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

"He has abused his revered position in society, and having met her, this 15-year-old girl, at Sunderland Football Club and on social media, and knowing that she looked up to him, made a conscious decision to act in a way that he knew was morally and legally wrong."

Adam Johnson due in court

Adam Johnson, the former Sunderland and England footballer, will go on trial today charged with two child sex offences.

The 28-year-old, who pleaded guilty to two similar offences on Wednesday, was sacked by his club following the admissions.

He is due at Bradford Crown Court where the prosecution are expected to begin outlining its case against him.

Johnson, who earned £50,000 a week at Sunderland is accused of two counts of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl in early 2015.

He has already admitted grooming the girl and kissing her in his car in a sexual manner.

But he denies two further charges of sexual activity, which the Crown say went beyond kissing.

Johnson, who was accompanied by his girlfriend Stacey Flounders, when he appeared in court on Wednesday, started his career at Middlesbrough before moving to Manchester City and then Sunderland.

He played in last weekend's 2-2 draw against Liverpool, scoring a free kick.