London, May 29 (ANI): Sunderland footballer Titus Bramble is on trial and has been accused of sexually assaulting two women within 30 minutes of each other on a night out last September.
A taxi driver became so concerned about the footballer's conduct with a girl in the back of his cab that he drove the pair straight to a police station, a court heard.
The cab driver took matters into his own hands when the woman started pleading to be taken home as she was allegedly attacked by the Premier League player.
To fool Bramble eyes, the driver told him they were going to the station because the star had given him the wrong up-front fare.
But once inside, he asked to be seen alone by officers and alerted them to the incident.
The girl then made a statement which lead to the arrest of the 30-year-old.
Of the two accusations made against him, it is claimed that in the first incident he grabbed a woman's bottom in a nightclub. But in the second he is said to have repeatedly assaulted the girl in the cab.
Teesside Crown Court heard Bramble had been out partying in the North Yorkshire village of Yarm when the alleged assaults took place.
His first alleged victim was drinking in the same club with friends, including an off-duty police officer, when Bramble is said to have grabbed her bottom. It was not a slap or a pat, but a full-hand grab, she told the jury.
"As I turned round I looked up and saw him smirk at me. I felt very uncomfortable so I walked towards my friend, the off-duty police officer. I said: "He's just grabbed my a***." He said: "He plays for Sunderland". I said: "I don't care what he does, he's not grabbing me like that"," the Daily Mail quoted her as telling the court.
Half an hour later, at 1.30am, Bramble left the Cross Keys, a pub, which also operates as a club, and approached his second alleged victim outside.
She was trying to help a drunken friend to her feet when he is said to have grabbed her by the hand and led her down an alleyway and started kissing her.
"She accepts she kissed him back but then came to her senses...so she walked back to her friend," Prosecutor Shaun Dodds said.
"The defendant was talking to a friend about going to a club in Middlesbrough so asked the girl if she would be interested in joining him at the club. She said she didn't want to and wanted to go home so they agreed to share a taxi because her home was en route to Middlesbrough.
"Once in the taxi the defendant told the driver to take them to Wynyard where he lives," Dodds said.
During the journey, Bramble is accused of assaulting her.
"He leaned across and tried to kiss her but she said "no". He then placed his hand on her leg and moved it towards her crotch. She grabbed his arm and pulled it off," Dodds said.
"He (Bramble) then grabbed the girl's right hand and put it on his crotch. She pulled her hand away and said this is not right, stop. He didn't listen and did the same again.
"The taxi driver became aware that something was going on inside the back of his taxi because the girl leaned forward and was pulling on his arm pleading with him quietly that she wanted to be taken home," he added.
It was then he decided to take the pair straight to Stockton police station.
Bramble denies four charges of sexual assault. He says any sexual activity in the back of the taxi was consensual.
The trial continues. (ANI)
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