• Premier League

Bramble cleared of sex assaults

ESPN staff
May 31, 2012
Titus Bramble pictured on his way into Teesside Crown Court © PA Photos
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Sunderland defender Titus Bramble has been cleared of sexually assaulting two women.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court found the 30-year-old not guilty after a four-day trial.

Bramble was accused of groping a woman in a nightclub in Yarm, Teesside, before sexually assaulting another in a taxi home.

Summing up the case, Judge Peter Fox told the jury: "There needs to be proof of the sexual touching of the girl in question [and] that girl in question at the time did not agree to it."

Bramble, of Wynyard, near Middlesbrough, denied all charges throughout the trial.

He told jurors one of the complainants was "touchy feely and flirty" and had kissed him passionately as they shared a taxi from the Cross Keys nightclub, saying: "She was touching me and putting my hand on her leg."

The complainant claimed Bramble had grabbed her hand, put it on his crotch and placed his hand between her legs, which made her "scared".

The driver of the taxi believed something was wrong and drove the pair to a police station, where Bramble was arrested, the jurors were told.

Bramble's defence lawyer, Ronnie Jaffa, said the woman made the allegation to "save face" because she had regretted kissing him.

The other woman, who was also in the Cross Keys on the same night September 28 last year - said she felt someone grope her bottom and turned to see Bramble. She reported the incident after the other woman had claimed to have been assaulted in the taxi.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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