‘HE KISSED ME FULL ON THE LIPS’
Alleged victim tells court of incident on train as Gascoigne denies sexual assault
A woman who was kissed “forcefully and sloppily on the lips” by a drunken stranger on a train was shocked to discover a week later that it was football star Paul Gascoigne, a court heard.
The former England and Newcastle United player is on trial for sexual assault after the incident on a York to Newcastle train in August 2018.
Yesterday Teesside Crown Court heard how 52-year-old Gascoigne, who was born in Dunston, Gateshead , “put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her on the lips”, claiming afterwards that he was “just trying to give her some confidence”.
When police caught up with him that night at a hotel in Jesmond he told them he knew it was about the fact he had “kissed a fat lass”.
The woman, who cannot be identified, told the court that the train was quite busy and that a man she did not recognise moved from the aisle to the seat behind her.
“He was very noisy, there were lots of drink cans and food on the floor, he had food on his face,” she said.
“He seemed rather intoxicated.” The woman says that midway through the journey the man asked if she was a palm reader, but she just “tried to keep looking forward”.
She told jurors she changed seats, and that the man apologised for being noisy.
The complainant said: “He kept saying sorry, I kept looking out of the window. He said sorry a second time.
“He tapped my arm again. I turned round to face him and that’s when I was assaulted. He grabbed my face and kissed me full on the lips. I was taken aback, it was completely out of the blue.
“When I realised what had happened I pushed him away. I said ‘no, that’s not OK, get off.’ I was completely afraid.”
“I said I was fine but I wasn’t fine with the situation. I just wanted to get away as quickly as possible.
The woman said she looked up a number for British Transport Police when she got off the train “because I remembered a specific campaign about, something like ‘see it, do something.’”
She told the court: “At the time I didn’t recognise him. I’d seen his face and what he was wearing, I was able to describe it when I reported it.
“It wasn’t until the Sunday afterwards, I think it was a report on Sky news. My partner brought up a picture and that was the guy. He said who it was and everything clicked then, It was even more surreal at that point.”
Opening the case, prosecutor William Mousley QC told jurors: “This case concerns a brief but unpleasant assault with sexual overtones on a woman on a train in August 2018, by a drunken male stranger in his 50s.”
Mr Mousley said: “A time came when [Gascoigne] moved his suitcase which he had with him.
“He moved it to a different position and at some point offered a gin and tonic to another female passenger.”
“On his return to his seat he tried to sit on [the complainant] who was still on the train, minding her own business. As a result of that she moved across to the window seat.
“He continued trying to engage with her. She was looking out of the window when he tapped her on the arm, causing her to turn towards him.
“He then put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her forcefully and sloppily on the lips. Upset and shocked, she pushed him away and told him to get off.
“He apologised but his actions caused others to react, accusing him of
unacceptable sexual behaviour.
“He moved away and sought to justify what he had done, saying he was trying to boost her confidence.”
On the night of the incident, police traced Gascoigne to a hotel in Jesmond, Newcastle, and he told officers on the phone he knew what it was about - “he had, in his words, ‘kissed a fat lass,’” Mr Mousley said.
When he was questioned the next morning, when he was “more sober”, Mr Mousley said, he did not show “contrition” and told lies instead, claiming the woman had been abused about her build, “and he had given her a peck on the lips to reassure her as he felt sorry for her”.
The prosecution asked the jury to consider what the complainant thought of the incident, with Gascoigne “forcing his wet and sloppy mouth on to her lips”.
Mr Mousley said: “Shocking, upsetting, perhaps even frightened at what might else have happened, a blatant act in front of others, humiliating perhaps, perhaps it was him showing off.”
He added: “The prosecution case is this was a sexual assault and we will seek to prove it by making you sure that it was nothing else.”
Cross-examined by Michelle Heeley QC, for Gascoigne, the complainant said she did not hear anyone call him “Gazza”. She also denied hearing anyone on the train say: “Why would you want a photo with that fat cow?”
Ms Heeley then put it to the witness that Gascoigne had come over to comfort her and said, “Do not worry, you’re beautiful”. The woman responded: “I do not recall that happening.”
The defence counsel asked if the kiss lasted around one or two seconds, and the woman said it lasted between three and five seconds, with Gascoigne’s lips over her closed mouth.
Ms Heeley asked whether a fellow passenger had said, following the kiss: “You’ve got a responsibility to other women on this train to do something (about the incident).”
The woman said: “I had already made up my mind, because it was unwanted behaviour, there was no instigation on my part of wanting any attention from him.”
Another train passenger told the jury that she saw Gascoigne put his tongue in the mouth of the alleged victim.
The court heard how, in her statement, the witness said she had told Gascoigne: “What you have just done is sexual abuse.”
She told the court: “He told me it wouldn’t have been me because I was buck toothed and ugly.
“I said ‘you’re clearly embarrassed by your behaviour because it’s sexual assault and it’s wrong and you shouldn’t have done that, you’ve really upset her.’” On the suggestion that the victim had become upset by her outburst, the witness added: “She was upset by the action. She said she was fine in a completely defensive way, she was clearly shocked.”
Gascoigne, of Amy Street, Leicester, denies sexual assault. The trial continues.
He moved away and sought to justify what he had done, saying he was trying to boost her confidence William Mousley QC