Ex-Latics striker admits assault

APPEARANCE . . . Killen leaves court

A FORMER Latics star has pleaded guilty to a charge of sexually assaulting a woman while she was asleep in bed at night.

Ex-New Zealand international Chris Killen is said to have committed the offence at a mansion he had once owned in Bury on September 17, last year.

Killen, who played 70 times for Latics scoring 17 goals, had denied the allegation of sexual touching when he appeared before magistrates last October.

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He continued to maintain his innocence until yesterday, when he was due to go on trial at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court. Defence barrister Lisa Judge said her client had pleaded on a "very specific basis", though the details will not be known until he appears for sentencing in August.

Judge Maurice Greene said he needed to have the benefit of probation service and psychological reports before passing sentence.

Killen, of London Road, Adlington, near Macclesfield, was granted bail, but Judge Greene warned him that all sentencing options remained open to him.

He said: "This was a sexual assault on a sleeping woman who was effectively in her own home for the night."

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Bury magistrates were told when Killen appeared before them last October that the mansion where the offence took place had been rented out on the night in question.

The striker played for Manchester City between 1999 and 2002, between loan stints with Wrexham and Port Vale, before joining Latics.

He represented his country at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, playing in all three of New Zealand's group game draws against Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay.

The player ended his football career after being released by Middlesbrough in 2010, and signing a contract with Chinese Super League side Shenzhen Ruby.