The midfielder was found guilty of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl
Sunderland have confirmed that Adam Johnson was sacked immediately after the club realise he was a child sex offender.
Johnson’s contract was terminated on February 11th after pleading guilty to two other sexual abuse charges to the Bradford Crown Court.
He played, and scored, in his final Sunderland game in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool just days before the trial begin.
Disgraced
The club come under criticism of putting Premier League survival ahead of these traumatic events during the trial.
It was alleged that chief executive Margaret Byrne knew about Johnson’s actions with the school girl and had seen over 800 text messages as evidence.
But since the 28-year-old has been convicted, the club have responded with a statement.
The statement
“This is utterly without foundation and is refuted in the strongest possible terms.
“The club only became aware of the change of plea, in relation to two of the four counts on the indictment, on the first day of the trial, after hearing it reported through the media.
“The club was not advised in advance that Mr Johnson would plead guilty to any offence.
“Had the club known that Mr Johnson intended to plead guilty to any of these charges, then his employment would have been terminated immediately.
“Indeed, upon learning of the guilty plea on 11 February 2016, the club acted quickly and decisively in terminating Adam Johnson’s contract without notice.
“On 4 May 2015, an introductory meeting took place between Mr Johnson, his father and Orlando Pownall QC (his defence counsel). The club’s CEO (Ms Byrne) was present during part of that meeting.
“During the time she was present, there was no suggestion whatsoever that Mr Johnson would be changing his plea.”
The disgraced, and once, England star will discover his fate in around two weeks but is likely to face up to 10 years in prison.
Written by Tom Sutton – T0MSUTT0N
