Sunderland's Titus Bramble cleared of sexual assaults

Sunderland defender Titus Bramble was on Thursday found not guilty of sexually assaulting two women in separate incidents on the same night in September last year.

Bramble, 30, had been accused of groping a woman during a taxi ride home from a nightclub in Yarm, Teeside in September last year. Another woman alleged Bramble had groped her in a nightclub earlier that night.

Bramble told jurors during his four-day trial at Teesside Crown Court that the woman he had been accused of fondling had been "touchy-feely and flirty" and had kissed him "passionately".

The Black Cats defender had always denied groping the other woman.

A jury of five men and seven women cleared Bramble after just over an hour of deliberations.

Bramble showed no emotion as his not guilty verdicts were read out before leaving court without comment.

The case was the latest in a string of lurid stories which have dogged Bramble throughout his career.

The player's brother Tesfaye was jailed for four-and-a-half years last year for raping a 19-year-old woman at a Newcastle hotel. Titus Bramble was also arrested in connection with the incident but was released without charge.

Bramble was also among a group of men questioned by police in 2003 over allegations of a gang rape of a teenager at a luxury hotel in London.

No charges were ever filed in the case after prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed.