Taxpayers net £500k Johnson trial bill

PERVERTED footballer Adam Johnson’s lies cost taxpayers as much as £500,000.

The disgraced ex-England star, 31, is due to be released from prison this week after serving half his sentence at HMP Moorland, south Yorks. And while he will live in luxury, in a £2million mansion, inset, taxpayers are still reeling from the huge cost of convicting him for sexually assaulting a young fan. Documents obtained by the Daily Star Sunday reveal the bills racked up by prosecutors and police in bringing the footballer to justice.

The police probe, code-named Operation Merit, involved a detective inspector, a sergeant, constables and support from specialist departments.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service spent thousands on hiring top barristers for the case. A Freedom of Information response shows how

£31,069.90 of taxpayers’ money went on lead counsel fees and

£18,622.40 on junior counsel.

The public purse was hit again as the then Sunderland ace, who earned

£60,000 a week, appealed against his conviction and six-year sentence. Durham Police said they were unable to provide a total bill for the operation because the cost was covered from its general policing budget. But it is likely to have cost around half a million pounds.

In response to a FOI request, the force revealed how the probe was launched on February 27, 2015.

The winger denied all four allegations until the first day of his trial, a year later, when he pleaded guilty to one count of grooming and one count of kissing the schoolgirl.

But he was sentenced for carrying out a sex act on the victim in County Durham on 30 January 2015.