Footballer ‘asked girl, 15, to send him naked photo’

THE footballer Adam Johnson asked a 15-year-old girl he had sexually assaulted in his car to send him a naked picture of herself, a court was told yesterday.

Johnson, 28, messaged the devoted fan on social media after he allegedly got her to perform a sex act on him in his Range Rover. She had posted a photo of herself in a white bikini on Snapchat and he sent her a text saying: ‘Send one with the bikini off.’

The girl also claimed that the former England international arranged a secret rendezvous with her to give her £50 spending money for a trip to London, Bradford Crown Court was told.

Giving evidence by video link, a friend said the girl had told her that Johnson ‘wanted to have sex

‘She realised what

she had done’

with her’ at that meeting, their third. The court heard that Johnson first linked up with the fan on Facebook and had arranged to met her to sign two Sunderland football shirts.

They met again two weeks later so she could give him a ‘thank you kiss’. It was at this second meeting that the footballer is accused of intimately touching the naive teenager and getting her to perform a sex act on him.

Another friend told the court that the girl was initially ‘excited’ about her encounter with Johnson in his car, but then ‘started to realise what she had done because he had a girlfriend and a baby’. She saw a message from Johnson to the girl about ‘wanting to get your pants off’.

Johnson, of Castle Eden, Durham, denies two offences of sexual activity with a child. He has admitted sexual grooming and a further offence of sexual activity with a child. The case continues.