Man City fan faces jail after being convicted of sexually assaulting Everton fan

A Manchester City fan could be jailed, placed on the Sex Offender Register and banned from all football grounds after she was convicted of groping an Everton fan during a Premiership clash.

Jemma Whiteside, 40, had been drinking heavily when she grabbed the man's genitals and twerked against his shoulder shortly before kick-off - saying: 'I am going to f*** him later, and I don't even know his name.'

The incident occurred in February when Whiteside was at Goodison Park to see City beat Everton 1-0.

The mother-of-six was convicted of sexual assault at Sefton Magistrates Court today after her trial.

Whiteside was bailed for sentencing next month. The offence has a maximum ten years imprisonment and she could also be barred from all stadiums in the UK under a Football Banning order.

Whiteside, of Worsley, Greater Manchester, groped a male Everton fan during a Premiership clash on February 26 this year.

The victim, who is in his 40s, reported the incident to police saying he was 'shocked' at being fondled.

'I was looking out towards the concourse when a female came up behind me, put her hand between my legs and grabbed hold of my testicles,' he told the court.

'She went one step up of a flight of stairs so she was slightly higher and put her bum on my shoulder and then walked off.

'I was shocked. I looked at a colleague and he looked at me and I said: 'Did that just happen?''

The victim claimed Whiteside put her hand between his legs before she 'went up and cupped my testicles.'

He recalled: 'She was directly behind me and she then took a step up when she rubbed her bum on my shoulder. I was shocked.'

PC Mark McGinty who arrested Whiteside in the stands said she was 'very drunk,' as evidenced by her behaviours in the stands.

'She was moving her arms about erratically, leaning over the barrier and trying to grab at people below, shouting at them and shouting towards the pitch,' Mr McGinty explained.

'Her speech was very slurred, she was unsteady on her feet and her eyes were glazed. I was under the impression that she was very drunk.'

The court heard the officer had recorded in his statement that Whiteside had been heard saying that she 'liked Scouse men'.

Later, when Whiteside was asked about the incident, she retorted: 'No offence to Liverpool but a Scouse man is not something that I would want or need.'

In police interview, Whiteside said she had been with friends and was in a very happy and joyous mood bit she denied being drunk and 'mortified' at being arrested for sexual assault.

She claimed the actions the victim had accused her of were something 'I wouldn't even do to my boyfriend in public.'

'Ask any Man City fan and they will wholeheartedly agree. That is not something I would do,' Whiteside pleaded.

'He has taken offence at me, he does not like me. I am a respectable mother and a respectable City fan. I would not behave in a way that would make me be less able to see Man City.'

'If I was walking past I may have brushed past him. It was a football match, it was a crowded place, it is easy to happen, to brush past someone.'

She also continued to deny saying she was going to 'f** him later' and added: 'I have never said anything like that in my life. I am a mother of six children. When I am not looking after my children football is the only thing I do.'

When pressed on whether she said she liked Scouse men, she said. 'As a staunch city fan that is not something I can see myself saying.'

Finding her guilty of sexual assault, District Judge James Clarke said the victim's complaint was 'not something that could be misunderstood or mistaken.'

The judge said he was 'not convinced' that the victim had 'made up' his accusations against Whiteside.

'The complainant gave a credible account in my assessment. It was not something that could be misunderstood or mistaken. I am not convinced it is something he made up,' he ruled.

'The defendant was a joker, and this is a prank that has gone very badly wrong whilst committed in drink and perhaps showing off to friends on the occasion.'

'Clearly the words: 'I will have him later and I don't even know his name', is a curious thing for the victim to misinterpret or invent if that is what is suggested he did.

'In drink people can and often do things which are very out of character. I am sure the lady had been drinking during the course of the afternoon.

'She was a lady in high spirits who was hurried by her friends and taking last sips of alcohol in the process.'

Whiteside, whose son is in the final year of a scholarship at a Premiership club and whose daughter is undertaking trials at Liverpool FC, burst into tears when her conviction was announced.