TYRELL ROBINSON OF BRADFORD CITY SENTENCED FOR ABUSE OF 14-YEAR-OLDS
In August 2018, Tyrell Robinson, a player for Bradford City, met three 14-year-old girls at his flat in Bradford along with his friend Korie Berman.Bradford Crown Court heard that Robinson was aware of the girls' ages and had discussed this fact with Berman, who is 22.
Both men admitted to engaging in sexual activity with minors.
Robinson was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, while Berman received a six-year sentence.
Gillian Batts, prosecuting, explained that the player had met the victims during a social event.
Bradford City's management had explicitly advised players not to attend this event.
The club’s safeguarding training, provided to all players, included guidance against sharing contact details with under-18s.
Robinson later sent one of the girls a message stating: "I think you are stunning, but your age is a killer." Robinson, from South Ockendon, Essex, admitted to having sex with one of the girls in his bedroom after meeting up with the girls along with Berman.
He also took a photograph of Berman in bed with the other two girls and shared it with him.
Berman, from Thurrock in Essex, confessed to police that he had sex with the girls.
The court noted that the girls, who had been given alcohol, had little or no memory of the events and were 'violently ill' afterwards.
It was also revealed that Berman had sex on two separate occasions with one of the girls at Robinson's flat while the footballer was away.
Robinson was suspended by Bradford City shortly after the incident in August 2018 and was eventually dismissed from the club.
Judge Richard Mansell QC remarked that the teenagers were 'immature, typical 14-year-olds who were sexually inexperienced, naive and vulnerable to grooming and sexual exploitation by adult men.' He added that both the girls and their families suffered significant harm.
Besides their prison sentences, both men will be required to register as sex offenders for life.
