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November 20, 2018

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Gascoigne charged with sexual assault

Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman on a train.

The 51-year-old Gascoigne, who has struggled with alcohol and mental-health problems, was arrested at Durham station on August 20. British Transport Police said yesterday that Gascoigne “was charged via postal requisition with one count of sexual assault by touching”.

Gascoigne is to appear in court on December 11.

Writing on Twitter, Gascoigne said he was innocent. In a tweet that was soon deleted, Gascoigne said he had stepped in to comfort a woman after she was called “a fat cow”.

Gascoigne also said the officers who charged him asked for “selfies” and an “autograph”.

“Why if I did wrong,” he asked in the tweet.

Gascoigne also said he was called fat when he was young and that his niece and nephew were hospitalized because they refused to eat after being called fat at school. He ended another tweet by saying “deep inside I’m hurting”.

Gascoigne — known as “Gazza” — made his name with Newcastle United before going on to play for Tottenham Hotspur, Italian giant Lazio and several other teams, including Glasgow Rangers.

The midfielder, widely regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation, was also a key member of the England side that reached the semifinals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. He won 57 caps in total.

Gascoigne was one of the first big-name footballers to arrive in China when he made the shock decision to be a player-coach of second division Gansu Tianma in 2003 but he lasted just a handful of games.

In 2016, he was fined and ordered to pay compensation by a court after making a racist comment to a black security guard at his “An Evening with Gazza” show.




 

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