ARSENAL ACE OAP ATTACK
But ex-footie ace is cleared of sex assault
A FORMER Arsenal star was yesterday cleared of a sex attack on an elderly woman.
But Sammy Nelson pleaded guilty to a separate charge of assault after admitting he had grabbed her hand on a bus journey.
The court heard that after telling the 75-year-old woman he was a former Northern Ireland international, he shoved his hand between her legs.
The woman said she reacted in “horror” and told him: “If you ever do that to me again I will give you such a slap.”
The court heard just minutes later he did the same thing again, leaving the woman “shocked and angry”.
At Brighton Magistrates’ Court Nelson, an FA Cup winner with Arsenal in 1979 who also played for his country at the 1982 World Cup, was cleared of sexual assault.
Drinking
After admitting the lesser charge of assault, he was given an absolute discharge and ordered to pay £85 in costs.
Magistrates were told Nelson, of Hove, East Sussex, and his son, Peter, had been to London last October to watch Arsenal and were returning home on a bus to Brighton.
The court heard Nelson had been drinking and showed a lack of inhibitions.
Magistrates watched CCTV footage which showed Nelson apparently picking up the woman’s hand and either kissing it or holding it to his face.
It also showed him reaching over to the victim as they sat next to each other but did not show a sexual assault.
Emily Baxter, defending, suggested Nelson may have tapped the victim “playfully and jokingly” in conversation but did not grab her groin.