I want to get your jeans off, Johnson told girl, 15
A SCHOOLGIRL who had a sexual encounter with footballer Adam Johnson told her best friend he offered her cash to meet him again, a court heard.
The 15- year- old later told her friend she used £ 50 given to her by the £ 50,000- a- week England star to buy lingerie during a trip to London and claimed they had a secret third rendezvous.
The best friend also claimed that Johnson asked for a naked “selfie” after the illicit afternoon meeting in his Range Rover.
She said the former Sunderland star sent a message on social media website Snapchat requesting a “naked picture”.
The teenager confided in her best friend while Johnson allegedly bombarded her with more than 800 text messages.
It was also said she told another friend that Johnson “wanted to have sex with her” before his arrest.
In video evidence played to Bradford Crown Court yesterday the best friend accepted her friend could “exaggerate”.
She said she had at first doubted details of the encounter “because he’s a footballer, he’s famous and she’s only 15”.
But she said she changed her mind once she saw a text from Johnson “on her phone where he said something about just wanting to get her pants off.” The jury earlier saw a text sent by Johnson where he told the youngster: “just wanted to get your jeans off lol”.
Johnson, 28, of Castle Eden, County Durham, began messaging the girl after she made a Facebook friend request on December 30, 2014.
Within an hour she had told him she was just 15 and he bemoaned the fact it was “ages” until she turned 16.
But he arranged to meet her outside a Chinese takeaway on January 17 to hand her a signed Sunderland shirt.
He then set up a second meeting for January 30 to receive “a thank- you kiss... and more”.
He had worn the shirt as his team lost 3- 2 to Manchester City on New Year’s Day.
Johnson, who was sacked by Sunderland last week, admits grooming the girl and engaging in sexual activity with a child.
But he denies their second encounter involved two more serious sex offences.
In the interview shown to the jury yesterday, the best friend said: “She had been texting him before she went away and he offered to meet her for money.”
During cross- examination defence barrister Orlando Pownall QC quoted her interview about the victim’s claims of a “third meeting” which the jury previously heard were made up “as a joke”.
She said: “I can’t remember her saying anything sexual happened. She thought they had only talked for about 20 minutes. She brought me some presents back from London, an underwear set and a couple of other things. She said she paid with money Johnson gave her.”
The girl told Mr Pownall: “I didn’t believe it. She had not told anyone else about it.”
Johnson’s victim previously told the jury: “I never met him for a third time. There were two occasions we met.” The best friend also revealed that before the second meeting the girl had talked “non- stop” about her favourite player.
She said: “She seemed excited at first but then started to realise what she had done because he had a girlfriend and a baby.
“You could tell something had changed. Before he spoke to her he was her favourite footballer and she would always talk about him, but after that she acted differently and did not speak about him as much.”
Johnson yesterday arrived at court with his sister Faye and father David but without his girlfriend Stacey Flounders, 26, who has attended three days of the five- day trial.
She was heavily pregnant when Johnson – with whom she shares a £ 1.85m mansion – began grooming the schoolgirl.
She gave birth to their daughter Ayla days before he met the girl for the first time after returning to Newcastle Airport following Sunderland’s clash earlier in the day with Spurs.
Johnson has been capped 12 times by England. He played for Middlesbrough and Manchester City before transferring to Sunderland for £ 10million in 2012.
The trial continues.