A Brighton and Hove Albion player said his teammates woke him up giggling to show him a photograph of themselves exposed and sexually assaulting a young woman, the jury at The Old Bailey heard.
Anton Rodgers, Lewis Dunk, George Barker and former Seagull Steve Cook are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of performing sex acts on a 19-year-old woman and taking photographs as trophies.
Yesterday, Ben Sampayo reluctantly gave evidence to the trial against his team mates.
Mr Sampayo, who had to be summonsed to appear in court, said he did not want to be there and that he could not remember most of the night of July 16, 2011.
At the time he was living at the Jurys Inn hotel in Stroudley Road and was sharing the room with Rodgers, in which the teenager is said to have been assaulted.
Mr Sampayo said he had been out with his teammates after the Sussex Senior Cup.
He said he returned to his room at Jurys Inn with Rodgers, Dunk, Barker, Cook and the young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Heard giggling
He said he fell asleep within ten minutes but woke when he heard the defendants giggling. He said: “I could hear talking and giggling. I heard male voices.
“A teammate came up to my bed. I can’t remember who.
“It was one of those four but I honestly don’t know which. “He showed me a photo. I think it was on a phone.”
Mr Sampayo said the footballers were exposing themselves in the picture, but he wasn’t sure how many were involved.
He added: “I think I saw more than one photograph.
“I heard giggling. They were just saying ‘look at this’.
He said he was shown the picture and that the players had told him they were making “her” touch them.
'No part of it'
When he woke the following morning, only Rodgers and the woman were still in the room.
Mr Sampayo said: “She said she felt something had gone on. She said something about photographs.
“She asked me, ‘Why did you do that?’
“I said ‘Look it wasn’t anything to do with me. I had no part of it. I had been asleep.”
Rodgers, Barker, Dunk and Cook all deny sexual assault and voyeurism.
The trial continues.
Follow the case live from the Old Bailey every day with The Argus.
THE CASE SO FAR
Anton Rodgers, George Barker, Lewis Dunk and Steve Cook "deliberately humiliated” the 19-year-old woman for their own sexual gratification, the Old Bailey was told on Tuesday.
The footballers – drunk on a night out celebrating the opening of American Express Community Stadium in July 2011– performed degrading sex acts on the unconscious teenager at the Jurys Inn hotel in Brighton and took photographs as trophies of their actions the court was told.
Richard Barton, prosecuting, described the players as a “group of arrogant young men”.
The woman wiped tears from her face as she described seeing images of herself on Anton Rodgers' phone.
On Wednesday the victim was branded a “prolific liar”.
Mark Cotter, representing, Barker said: “You swept yourself up in a rollercoaster of lies.
“I suggest you are a prolific liar.” On Thursday the jury heard from the victim's friends and boss.
The court was told that the woman had "feared what everyone would think of her" and that she looked like she had "been through something bad".
See all stories related to the court case in the dedicated section on The Argus website.
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