Jesse Lingard has told a court he would have ‘cut ties’ with his grandfather had he been aware of allegations that he sexually abused a young girl. Lingard flew in from South Korea, where plays for FC Seoul, to appear at Liverpool Crown Court as a defence witness in the trial of his grandfather Kenneth Lingard.
The 86-year-old is standing trial accused of historic sexual assaults against a woman who claims he abused her over a 13 year period starting when she was five. She first rang police after the ex-Manchester United star, 32, released a documentary speaking about mental health in 2022.
In the episode he spoke at length about how his grandfather had helped to train him and hone his football skills as a child.
The ex-West Ham and Nottingham Forest ace, who wore a black suit with a white shirt and black tie, said the woman contacted him after the documentary came out.
Speaking at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, 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. He added: “I said ‘call them if you want’. She popped up out of nowhere, to be honest. It was kind of random.”
In messages to the former England player, the woman said: “Shame on you Jesse Lingard. Loads of lies. Your grandad Kenneth Lingard molested and sexually abused me and you know he did.”
Lingard told the court he had not known anything about the allegations before. He said: “I would have cut ties with him straight away. My daughter wouldn’t be round there. My little sister wouldn’t be round there.”
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.”
Asked why he made the Channel 4 documentary, called Untold: The Jesse Lingard Story, he said: “I made it for mental health reasons and just to show my family, show people how footballers live. At the end of the day, we’re all human. To share that footage and to have my family in it was amazing.”
The midfielder, who scored a goal in his match in South Korea’s K League 1 on Saturday, said he arrived in the UK on Monday night. Asked if the trial had caused him any difficulties, he said: “A few sponsorship deals in Korea have fell through. I’ve had to hold off on some more sponsorship deals in Korea at the moment.”
He told the court he had lived with his grandparents from the age of two or three and his grandfather was very supportive with 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. He’s been the man that’s got me here today.”
Kenneth Lingard, of Northway, Warrington, denies 17 counts of indecent assault.
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