Former Premier League footballer Jesse Lingard has told his grandfather’s sexual assault trial he would have “cut ties” with his relative if he had known about the accusations against him.
The former Manchester United and England star made the comment after travelling from South Korea, where he plays for FC Seoul, to appear as a defence witness for Kenneth Lingard at Liverpool Crown Court.
The 86-year-old, from Warrington, denies 17 counts of indecent assault against a woman who has alleged he abused her from the age of five.
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The footballer said he had not known anything about the allegations against his grandfather before and “would have cut ties with him straight away” if he had.
“My daughter wouldn’t be round there. My little sister wouldn’t be round there,” he added.
Asked by Tom Price KC, defending, if he would lie on behalf of his grandfather, Jesse Lingard said: “No, never. If I knew any of these allegations, I’d have cut ties with him years ago.”
Jesse Lingard, 32, said the alleged victim approached him following the release of a 2022 documentary, called Untold: The Jesse Lingard Story, in which he described how his grandfather had helped his career.
He said: “She was just going on about the documentary and how I let him be part of it when he’s done those things.
“I was like, ‘What are you on about? I have not heard nothing about this’.”
He said the woman told him she was going to call the police, and he told her to “call them if you want”.
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The attacking midfielder, who also played for Nottingham Forest and West Ham in the Premier League, said the accuser “popped up out of nowhere”, and said it was “kind of random”.
The court heard that, at one point, she sent him a message which said: “Shame on you Jesse Lingard. Loads of lies. Your grandad Kenneth Lingard molested and sexually abused me, and you know he did.”
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The footballer, who said he had lost some sponsorship deals since the allegations became public, told the court he had lived with his grandparents from the age of two or three, and his grandfather was very supportive of his career.
He said: “He basically taught me football, taught all the skills, drove me up and down motorways from Liverpool to Manchester, Crewe, Barnsley, Stoke, to watch me play football.”
Kenneth Lingard, “got me here today,” he added.
The case will continue on Wednesday.
