Former Sunderland FC Player Adam Johnson jailed for six years for sexual activity with schoolgirl

The former England footballer Adam Johnson has been jailed for six years for sexual activity with a child.

Johnson, 28, was convicted of carrying out a sex act on the 15-year-old schoolgirl in January last year.

Johnson had denied all four of the allegations until the first day of his trial, when he pleaded guilty to one count of grooming and one count of kissing the schoolgirl.

He continued to deny that he did anything further than kiss the teenager and disputed her two allegations of sexual offences.

But on 2 March he was found guilty by a majority verdict of carrying out a sex act on her in his black Range Rover behind a Chinese takeaway in County Durham on 30 January 2015.

Johnson showed no emotion in court as he was sentenced by Judge Jonathan Rose, who told him: “All of this is entirely your own repsponsibility and fault.

He said Johnson’s victim had suffered “severe psychological harm”. “Your standing and your offending are the only reason this child has suffered abuse.”

Johnson was also ordered to pay £50,000 of the prosecution’s costs.