Gascoigne thanks judge, jury and dentist after not guilty verdicts
PAUL GASCOIGNE, former England footballer, promptly thanked his dentist after being cleared of sexually assaulting a woman he kissed on a train.
The 52-year-old kissed the stranger “very forcibly and sloppily on the lips”, causing her to recoil in horror and leaving her “very shaken”.
But he insisted it was not sexual and that he did so simply to give her a confidence boost after another passenger abused her for being overweight.
Gascoigne was cleared of sexual assault as well as a less serious alternative charge of assault by beating, following a four-day trial at Teeside Crown Court.
As Judge Peter Armstrong confirmed he was free to leave, the ex-newcastle, Spurs and Everton midfielder replied: “Thank you very much your honour, thank you very much to the jury and thank you very much to my dentist.”
The bizarre remark was a reference to a request to remove his bottom teeth during the trial.
The complainant said he had appeared “intoxicated” on the York to Durham train last August but Gascoigne’s lawyer argued that he was slurring because he was not wearing the bridge containing false teeth.
While giving evidence, he took out his teeth to demonstrate how different his voice sounded without them.
Jurors heard he told officers he had drunk “three or four cans” prior to the incident.
William Mousley, prosecuting, accused Gascoigne of “lying through his teeth – whichever teeth they were”.
But the jury believed the former footballer, returning not guilty verdicts within a matter of hours.
Gascoigne wept tears of relief when he was cleared of the first charge.
The former sporting icon threw back his head and there was clapping from the public gallery. Gascoigne was handed a handkerchief and dabbed his eyes as he left the court to await his fate on the alternative charge, of which he was also later cleared.
In a statement read outside the court by his solicitor, he said: “To have a sexual allegation hanging over me for over 12 months has been so tough. I am so glad I was finally able to put my side of the story and that the jury came to the correct verdict.”
Asked how he felt, Gascoigne said: “I’m off to the dentist.”