Woman in Brighton footballers sex assault trial cries and describes her fears

The woman who said that three Brighton and Hove Albion footballers sexually assaulted her broke down in tears during cross-examination today (Thursday 24 January).

She spoke of her fears – about what people would think of her and how she was too scared at first to report the incident in July 2011.

She was 19 years old when she went back to the Jury’s Inn hotel by Brighton Station to Anton Rodgers’s room. Rodgers is the son of Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

The woman, who has since turned 21, admitted that she lied to her boss and to Sussex Police having missed work the day after the incident.

She said that she hadn’t wanted to go to the police and when she did she was too scared to tell the truth.

But later she said that she was taunted about what had happened. She went back to the police in January last year to tell the truth, she said.

The players were celebrating a cup victory and she met them while out clubbing in Brighton.

A friend who was with her said that they shared a bottle of wine and downed 10 to 15 shots each but that the teenager wasn’t drunk.

Lewis Dunk, 21, Anton Rodgers, 19, and George Barker, 21, deny sexual assaulting the woman in her sleep as does former team mate 21-year-old Steve Cook, who has since joined Bournemouth.

Dunk, of Woodbourne Avenue, Brighton, Rodgers and Barker, both of Highview Avenue North, Brighton, and Cook, of Perth Road, St Leonard’s, also deny voyeurism.

The trial continues.