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Adam Johnson Trial Verdict

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Littlerobbieh said:
I really don't think it is. I took my kids to the sci-con at the arena last November and a female wwe wrestler gave them both a signed pic and peck on the cheek. It depends how Johnson's told them, he might have said after the game he gave her a signed shirt, she asked for a kiss so he gave her a peck. None of us know anything about the transcript. Like I said I back the club over the scoundrel media and that scumbag who's facing jail.
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He's admitted to the police that he "snogged" her (used his tongue), then asked if that was an offence.
 
Littlerobbieh said:
No I'm just going to carry on with life, loving and backing my club and despising what that fuckin wanker has done to it. He's the issue here not safc. Can't you see how tragic it is that this threads turned into a safc are ran by scumbags thread..... Fuck Johnson he's gone..... Adam who?....... Na, we need answers off the wankers at the club. It's wrong on so many levels to me.
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Good for you. The fact remains the club has been accused of letting someone they know sexually abused a child carry on playing for the club, and hasn't denied that accusation. You can ignore that if you like but a lot of people are not.
 
Sgt Pepper said:
Couldn't care less, everyone knows deep down the whole club cannot be held responsible for the actions of any individual regardless of how high up that individual is. If people want to use it against SAFC then fuck them. It's also all the more reason for them, and I say again, any other boardroom member who knew, to come out and face what they're being accused of and then deal with it accordingly (e.g. resign or be sacked if possible - if they're guilty of what they're being accused of).



Exactly. If it's true the individuals have wronged the club itself, and the club's good name, as much as they have us fans and the others associated with the club I've mentioned in previous posts.
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Respect your opinion, absolutely. For me, though, it was the clubs collective decision. Get rid of the officers at the helm....definitely, but it was, ultimately, a Sunderland AFC issue.
 
Cockney Mackem said:
Good for you. The fact remains the club has been accused of letting someone they know sexually abused a child carry on playing for the club, and hasn't denied that accusation. You can ignore that if you like but a lot of people are not.
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Does the kiss class as sexual abuse, I'd imagine by the letter of the law it does? Genuine question.

HutchSafc said:
If its taking money off him then im all for it be fair. My response was a bit hasty.
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Apology accepted
 
Cockney Mackem said:
Good for you. The fact remains the club has been accused of letting someone they know sexually abused a child carry on playing for the club, and hasn't denied that accusation. You can ignore that if you like but a lot of people are not.
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They haven't admitted it either. They have released a statement saying no wrong doing, spoke to legal team, took advice from professionals, done everything above board, sacked him when he pleaded guilty. If they released a statement today saying what you want to hear you'll just say they're lying and should have said that 2 days ago. Then you'll find something else they missed out and start again. It's boring man. The club, manager and players are all shocked and disappointed in the player yet some of our fans are siding with the media and Johnson. It's baffling to me.
 
rocky said:
Does the kiss class as sexual abuse, I'd imagine by the letter of the law it does? Genuine question.


Apology accepted
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If the kiss was of a sexual nature as opposed to a peck on the cheek, yes. That's one of the criminal offences Johnson was charged with and one of the two he was pleading guilty to on day one of his trial. The court evidence was that he admitted this to the CEO of SAFC in a meeting in May last year.
 
Cockney Mackem said:
Wow. Would you like to point to the exact words in the statement where they say they deny hearing Johnson say he was guilty and deny seeing documents that incriminated Johnson, or are you just going to admit to wilful blindness?
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Did he actually say that he was guilty though? For all we know, he could have said "yes, I kissed her, but I have reason to believe I can fight this because of..". No one has any idea of the context of the conversation, how it took place and what was actually said. It's right to ask but I don't understand this outrage when we don't know the details.
 
Littlerobbieh said:
They haven't admitted it either. They have released a statement saying no wrong doing, spoke to legal team, took advice from professionals, done everything above board, sacked him when he pleaded guilty. If they released a statement today saying what you want to hear you'll just say they're lying and should have said that 2 days ago. Then you'll find something else they missed out and start again. It's boring man. The club, manager and players are all shocked and disappointed in the player yet some of our fans are siding with the media and Johnson. It's baffling to me.
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That's what I don't get, Johnson has lied to police, his lass, in court and multiple times in police interviews.
He doesn't suddenly become a paragon of virtue based on one statement.

The police statement yesterday was odd to say the least but I don't see why people are so willing to take the word of someone who has lied and manipulated his way through the entire case.
Well I do and that basically because the buck stops at one woman.
 
shepherd88 said:
Surely Johnson could hand over his own evidence if he wanted to?
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I'm pretty sure a defendant's statement isn't his to do anything with. It's the property of the Police.
Cockney Mackem said:
If you think that's a denial after it's been explicitly said that Johnson admitted guilt and Byrne saw documentary that proved he'd committed an offence, and that statement was intended in its own words to refute allegations made during the trial, then you are dreaming.
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I think you're making some fairly fundamental leaps here that are constructed on shaky ground. As far as I'm aware nobody has said Johnson admitted guilt to anyone at the club. What is your source for this? Nobody has said that Byrne saw any documents that proved anything. What is your source for this? Accusation, evidence and proof are three very different things. The first documented instance of Johnson admitting guilt is, as far as I'm aware, when he plead guilty.

What has been said is that some documents were passed to the club. What these were, what information they contained and whether these were looked at by anyone within the club, never mind Margaret Byrne, are uncertain. The suggestion is that these documents included the defendant's statement to the Police. It's quite unlikely that this is true, as CPS protocols say 'get a court order'. If the club did receive his statement, this has a whole bunch of ramifications.

This is not me saying the club have done nothing wrong, it's me saying people concluding that the club have done something wrong may be coming to this conclusion a little pre-emptively.
 
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Johnson pleaded not guilty to the charges, even though he admitted to certain acts, that is his right under the law, and as long as he maintained this stance Sunderland could not sack him, even suspending him would have left the club open to legal proceedings (innocent till proven guilty etc.) Why is nobody criticising the CPSand the plod for taking so long to firstly press charges, and secondly bringing the case to trial.
 
Littlerobbieh said:
I'm not saying that am I. What I'm saying is when Johnson told the club about it in May he may have hidden some details. For example he may have said 'look this is bad shit but I've done nowt wrong. She asked for a signed shirt so after the game I gave her one and I gave her a kiss. I'll be pleading guilty and I'll be getting off with it. That's just one theory, literally none of us know what he told the club. They're happy with how they've dealt with it, Johnson's the arsehole here.
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He can't have said that unless the club are lying about their intent to sack him if he intended to plead guilty.

An employer who just takes the word of someone in this situation on good faith is in breach of their legal responsibilities. It dosen't matter what he said in that sense. Even if the charge was made up, they have to put him aside until the law finds that. From my experience, if a charge is made up in these circumstances it never even reaches that sort of stage though. It's a day, if that, of inquiries to be made. Kids don't tend to go out their way to entrap adults and if they're being malicious it's as plain as the nose on your face. If an adult has put himself into a silly situation with a kid that allows for there to be something more complex than a consensual show of affection in a safe, public environment, even allowing for misunderstandings etc, then that's on them. The vast majority of adults manage to avoid it, because it is eminently avoidable if you simply take the time to think about your responsibilities and the power imbalance as an adult when around children.

Like I say, for it to get to the stage where he talked with the club means that something obviously sketchy has occurred. From the club's perspective as en employer and organisation with public responsibility, they should have known this. You don't *need* to call in legal terms to defend you if some girl is trying to sue you for giving them a peck on the cheek and a shirt while in line with other fans or whatever-it would never get that far, that's simply not illegal and the police would clear it up in a day. Given that, the club were stupid not to suspend him until the courts established what happened as it should have been clear,if legal help was needed, that the issue was complex and that AJ had at the very least put himself in a compromising position. This is even if you ignore the statement that the club actually had evidence of what had occurred-the Whatsapp transcriptions etc. Which make it abundantly clear that AJ had done something illegal and preadatory.
 
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