'You had every opportunity to enter guilty pleas. All of this is entirely your own responsibility and fault'. That was the summary of Judge Jonathan Rose before he sentenced Adam Johnson to six years in prison for child sex offences
It had been made evidently clear that Johnson faced up to ten years in jail after being found guilty of sexual contact with a 15 year old girl.
Johnson had taken many by surprise by pleading guilty to two offences in relation to grooming and kissing the girl. He denied two other charges of sexual contact, one of which he was subsequently found guilty of. Despite those earlier guilty pleas, Judge Rose stated that, because they came so late, Johnson would be entitled to a maximum of a 10% reduction in the severity of the sentence.
Judge Rose made it clear that the minimum sentence Johnson could expect would be five years and he duly stood by that with his final decision of a six year custodial sentence for the the former Sunderland winger.
And just in case the reality of his situation hadn't already hit home for Johnson, the judge also issued a restraining order preventing Johnson from contacting the victim or her family and ordered him to pay £50,000 towards their legal costs.
...Actually he was on £60,000 a week - so his £50,000 costs charge is less than a month's pay on his former salary
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) March 24, 2016
More to follow.
