Adam Johnson is facing the prospect of five to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of sexual activity with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
On the first day of the trial last month Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of grooming and one count of kissing the schoolgirl.
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s verdict Sunderland released a statement explaining why they reversed a decision to suspend Johnson in the wake of his arrest in March 2015.
The statement also detailed a meeting between Johnson, his father, lawyer Orlando Pownall QC in May 2015, two months after Johnson’s arrest.
Sunderland’s CEO Margaret Byrne was, according to the statement, “present during part of that meeting”.
The statement goes on to say that “during the time that [Byrne] was present there was no suggestion whatsoever that Mr. Johnson would be changing his plea”.
Sunderland says the first they heard that Johnson had changed his plea to guilty was via media reports on the opening day of the trial.
They quickly sacked the winger after he admitted guilt on those two charges.
However during the trial it was alleged that Sunderland knew all along that Johnson was going to change his plea and that he was allowed to continue playing for the club – something he did until last month – on the basis that he was innocent until proven guilty.
This is something Sunderland have refuted in the “strongest possible terms” in today’s statement
The club did not give evidence either for the prosecution or the defence in this case. It was therefore not present in court when it is understood that a suggestion was made that the club knew all along that Mr. Johnson was intending to change his plea just before trial to enable him to continue to play football for the club and that the club may also have been involved in tactical discussions about the plea. This is utterly without foundation and is refuted in the strongest possible terms. The club never placed any pressure or demands on Mr. Johnson to play football during this process. Decisions in relation to the pleas and the conduct of the trial have been left entirely to Mr. Johnson and his highly experienced and skilled legal team. Mr. Johnson has admitted in evidence that he changed his plea “on legal advice”.
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.
This statement fails to mention whether or not Johnson had informed the club last year that he had kissed the 15-year-old victim.
This omission has led to a number of important questions being levelled at the club’s Irish CEO Margaret Byrne.
#AdamJohnson told Sunderland CEO he "passionately kissed" 15 yo girl in March 2015, judge tells jury. He was suspended and then reinstated.
— Ciaran Jenkins (@C4Ciaran) March 1, 2016
Adam Johnson trial now over. Serious questions will be posed to Sunderland chief executive about why he wasn't sacked last year
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) March 2, 2016
@DeanBuckle initial 2-wk suspension allowed. Sunderland CEO got his messages in May, could have been grounds for long suspension?
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) March 2, 2016
(SAFC avoid issue of whether Adam Johnson admitted to them in May 2015 that he had kissed a 15-year-old schoolgirl) https://t.co/Wp13CnD6xz
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) March 2, 2016
Sunderland statement on Johnson does not contain any denial that CEO Margaret Byrne was aware he had kissed & groomed an underage girl.
— Eoin O'Callaghan (@EoinOCallaghan) March 2, 2016
Q's for Sunderland + its CEO over child protection provisions given Adam Johnson's testimony. Club said "no further comment" during trial.
— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) March 2, 2016
My understanding is that AJ claims to have told SAFC CEO he kissed the girl. That claim is not even addressed in the Sunderland statement
— Barry Glendenning (@bglendenning) March 2, 2016
