GAZZA CL AIM AS HE TELLS OF SEX CASE HELL Police asked me for selfies after I was arrested
PAUL Gascoigne has told how cops who arrested him over an alleged sex assault asked him to pose for selfies.
The ex-england star – cleared by a jury – claims police also asked him to relive his goal against Scotland at Euro 96.
Gazza revealed in an exclusive interview the moment cops arrested him at the Jesmond Dene Hotel in Newcastle for kissing a woman on a train.
He said: “I was in the back of the police car and they were just talking to me about football. On the way to the station they were asking me what my time was like playing for Middlesbrough, about the goal I scored in Euro 96.
“Then they were asking me for selfies after letting me go. I couldn’t believe it.”
British Transport Police yesterday denied Gazza’s claims about officers asking for selfies.
The star said the arrest triggered a 14-month nightmare and he feared being put on the sex offenders register.
He was charged with sexual assault after kissing a woman on a York to Newcastle train on August 20 last year.
A jury cleared Gazza after he said he was comforting the woman after other passengers taunted her about her weight. The star said it triggered painful memories of losing a 22- yearold nephew to an overdose.
Gazza said: “My nephew Jay died, he was bullied and I never want to see that happen to someone else. All I was doing was sticking up for the girl. I gave the girl a peck. I didn’t mean anything sexual, I heard what was said and wanted to help.
Worried
“I shouldn’t have to change the way I behave. I’ve been kissed six times this morning – does that mean I have been sexually assaulted? The last year has been a nightmare and I’ve worked hard to stay sober, in the last six months I’ve not touched a drop.”
Gazza, 52, went on: “I worried people would stop me going down the high street and shout abuse. A lot of my friends have kids – I thought, ‘If I’m on the sex offenders list does that mean I can’t be near children?’ I just started crying.
“I’m like a kid myself. I get on so well with any kids, I love being around them.
“Being on the sex offenders list – that’s not me. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. It’s been a year of hell. There were times when I could have just f***ing locked the door, turned my phones off and just got bladdered. But I know alcohol would make it worse.”
Gazza said he felt helpless as Teesside crown court heard accusations against him – and said he wanted to jump up and scream: “I’m no sex offender”. The star, who has fought a long battle with booze, celebrated the verdict by bingeing on sweets – two packets of wine gums.
Gazza – an official UEFA ambassador at Euro 2020 – was said to have kissed the woman without her consent for four seconds. He was cleared after his lawyers produced images showing him kissing stars and dignitaries from Princess Diana to Wayne Rooney and Russell Brand.