I can't imagine what he is going to do in the future. Most footballers are poor with money, so I doubt he has much saved and probably has a large mortgage. He will not be able to do anything involving children. He is well known so won't be able to return to some quiet life. His only chance will be if he is smart enough to run his own business. Fully deserves it, because he knew exactly what he was doing, but he's blown a good life.
Ref playing for Sunderland: Because you are innocent until proven guilty, no matter what the press might have you believe. Easy words to say but what they mean is important. You are not "possibly innocent" or "case not proven yet" but "innocent". Until the moment that the jury gives its verdict or (as in this case, he pleaded guilty to some of the charges), he should be treated exactly as though nothing had happened. I detest the way this has been undermined over the years. Vin
Absolutely, TSS. I would defend to the death his right to express an opinion. I do think if he has a question he wants to address to an individual he should use the PM service. If he posts on a thread any nutter can answer (as I have clearly demonstrated!).
No business can sack you based on an accusation as it could prejudice your trial. But you can be put on gardening leave as we did with Dave Jones....to allow him to concentrate on his defence. However, that nearly destroyed Dave....he said he needed normality and Saints took that from him. And as we know, he was completely innocent (saying that because it is surprising how mud sticks).
Totally agree with everything you say except for the fact that i have no interest in the thread. Nowhere have I said that although it has been inferred by others. It was a genuine question and your response at least explains (I think) that the idea is not to clutter other threads about Johnson. I had thought that i had missed something that linked it to Saints FC. So no complaints, just interested in what DTLW meant because as you say, he is a respected poster, and is usually quite happy to elaborate.
Digressing I know (but it does strengthen the Saints link!) but as I recall it was the clubs financial associated who threatened to pull the plug if DJ remained. So to stand by him would possibly have put the club into liquidation even sooner. Top bloke though. Sunderland have responded well to the guilty plea by sacking Johnson.
Really? Posting on the thread at least got me the answer I was looking for (eventually). And from you Surely I am not the only one that was intrigued?
Thinking ahead, what would a guilty verdict do, with regards to his daughter? Would the powers that be, suggest that she needed to be protected from being with him, if not now, at some time in the future?
In theory, yes....but it's not as if his victim is a very young child. The greatest danger is from *****philes targeting pre-pubescent children....though it is worrying when a grown man knowingly pursues a fifteen year old....risking everything to do so. No doubt he will be sent for assessment.
Not sure that the Safeguarding team would take this view. They can make some pretty wild jumps of the imagination.
I've no issue with Mowgli asking the question that he asked. Apologies for not replying sooner. Had some drama yesterday and then didn't wake up until this afternoon. Anyway, my reasoning for making an individual thread is that the Johnson story was making appearances in both Koeman's Korner and The Premier League Thread. My thinking was that, as well as appearing in two threads, this is a very sensitive topic. One thing I've seen from Twitter/Facebook etc is that some people are actually quite interested in the details of what *really* happened in this case. However, many others are totally disinterested due to either a general lack of interest or a level of disgust at the case, as it is. By designating a thread for the topic, it prevents two threads becoming bogged down with this. For many, it might be uncomfortable reading. For some, maybe a mere annoyance. Koeman's is meant to be non-football, and the PL thread should be about PL football. A story about a PL player (former PL player, now) being accused of grooming and sex with a minor doesn't exactly suit either, and there's some overlap. By creating this thread, those of us who are interested to follow proceedings can do so, and can keep all of the content (updates from reporters, court news etc.) in one place and be able to refer to it and check back for updates, as well as discuss it sensibly with each other. At the same time, those who want to avoid the case for whatever reasons they might have, can also do so. Very easily. Hope that clears it up and there's certainly no hard feeling on my part that you chose to ask that question.
Damned right. I was discussing this with my wife today. When she was 15 she fancied Billy Fury (poor taste, and she continued to have poor taste in men!), but stood as much chance of meeting him as she did at being selected to play for Liverpool. Today, a girl with a crush sends a friends request on Facebook and ends up in a dark car park with a sleazy footballer whom she idolised. A tad worrying.
For the record, the mods have discussed this thread, and pretty much agree with this reasoning. The main thing is that it is informative, sticks to the facts of the case, and doesn't libel anyone. And hopefully there won't be any aggravation over this subject with fans from other boards, either on this thread or elsewhere. Enough said.
I think DTLW was spot on to create this thread. I'm not interested in every single detail of the case obviously but I want to get a feel of how the trial's going and what sentence he receives.
I think Johnson pleaded guilty to these 2 charges as they were eminently provable and he didn't want the more serious charges attached to them. If you face several charges, the jury could be influenced by seeing you are clearly guilty of 2 charges. No point in talking about having to find people innocent if evidence doesn't support a guilty verdict....juries are made up of human beings. I think he has taken his lawyers advice and gone to the jury with the bit of the case that is his word v her word, rather than with the charges backed up by evidence.
