Not guilty

Photo: Darren Robinson

Jack Tuohy

A YOUNG footballer alleged to have groomed an underage girl for sex has been cleared of all charges against him after a week-long trial.

A jury of eight men and four women took just an hour to return unanimous not guilty verdicts on each of the five counts against 20-year old Jack Tuohy.

The midfielder, who was on a £250 per week professional contract with Oldham Athletic when his world was turned upside down, broke down and wept as he left the dock at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday. His parents and close family members were also in tears.

Mr Tuohy's solicitor Jeremy Moore said after the verdicts had been announced: "Jack has always maintained his innocence of these very serious allegations and is delighted that the jury came to the only sensible verdict in this case.

"His life has been on hold for 18 months during which he has been under the most severe stress.

"The family would now ask that they be left alone so Jack can resume his very promising professional career. The family would like to thank his legal team at Carter Moore Solicitors and Paul Hodgkinson for their amazing work in proving Jack's innocence."

Mr Tuohy, who is currently playing for Barnsley-based non-league outfit Shaw Lane, was arrested by police in October, 2015, after allegations were made by a 14-year old girl with whom he had a relationship on social media.

The star-struck youngster, who admitted being football mad, met him at Latics' ground in May of the same year, when she asked him to pose for a photo at a football tournament where he was asked to hand out medals.

She told police he had sent her a friend request on Facebook the same night, and they had then struck up a friendship ­- messaging, texting, and swapping photos of each other.

He told the court in evidence that it had in fact been the girl that sent him the request, which he accepted, as he did most similar requests he got from fans. He said he couldn't have contacted her first, as he did not even know her name.

The youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleged that he had sent her a picture of his genitals, but he denied it, and no such pictures were found on his or her phone.

The teenager told police she had not known who the footballer was when she first met him at Latics' ground, but the jury was told she had known full well, and had followed him on social media for some time beforehand.

Ben Jones, prosecuting, told the jury that Mr Tuohy had pressured and bullied the girl into meeting him, which he also denied.

The court heard how the two met in mid-October, 2015, when Mr Tuohy picked the youngster up and drove her to a quiet location where sex acts took place.

After being arrested he at first lied to police, saying there had been no sexual contact between them. He later admitted they had kissed, and then accepted what she had said was true.

He said the meeting had followed a major row between him and his-then girlfriend.

Paul Hodgkinson, defending, said the crucial issue was that Mr Tuohy maintained the teenager had never told him she was only 14, and he had fully believed her to be 16.

On her Facebook page she had entered a false date of birth which made her appear 17 at the time.

Mr Tuohy had pleaded not guilty to five charges: meeting a child following sexual grooming, two counts of sexual activity with a child, and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.