GAZZA: I GET KISSED ALL THE TIME

Star sobs as he denies sexual assault charge

EX-ENGLAND footballer Paul Gascoigne broke down in tears as he denied sexually assaulting a woman on a train. Gascoigne, 52, is accused of “forcefully and sloppily” kissing the woman on a service from York to Newcastle in August 2018. He told Teesside Crown Court he had wanted to reassure her after overhearing another passenger describe her as “fat and ugly”. Gascoigne said the kiss was “just a peck” and was not sexual. The former Newcastle, Tottenham, Middlesbrough Rangers, and Everton star said he was THREE OR FOUR CANS: Paul Gascoigne travelling from Birmingham to Newcastle with his nephews on August 20 last year.

He said while passengers were asking for selfies and autographs he heard a man, who he could not see, say about a female passenger: “What do you want a photo of her for? She’s fat and ugly.”

Mr Gascoigne told the jury he previously had trouble with his weight and “automatically” went to sit next to the woman to reassure her.

He said he told her: “You’re not fat and ugly, you’re beautiful.”

A court usher handed him a tissue as he became emotional while giving evidence in the dock.

Earlier, jurors heard how he was in an “intoxicated, drunken state”.

British Transport Police PC Robert Moody told the court that Mr Gascoigne was drinking beer in a hotel lobby when he arrived.

PC Moody said he had spoken to Mr Gascoigne prior to travelling to the hotel, telling jurors Gascoigne had said: “I know what it’s about, I kissed a fat lass.”

The court has heard the former midfielder “forcefully and sloppily” kissed the woman on the lips while drunk on the train and that she was left “shocked and upset”.

In a police interview Mr Gascoigne said he had undergone an operation which made him sick if he drank spirits and that “thousands” of strangers had come up to him and kissed him over the years.

He told officers: “I get kissed all the time, so if that was the case, I have been sexually harassed for 20 years.”

He said he had only consumed “three or four cans” prior to the incident because spirits made him “spew up” following the operation.

Gascoigne, who now lives in Leicester, told investigators: “I’m not a serious guy, I enjoy life. I’ve got myself in trouble down the years.”

The trial continues.