A top football star in the English Premier League has been accused of sexual assault after groping a waitress in a club, ripping her cloths and slapping her across the face.
According to reports, the star, who is Everton and England ace Aaron Lennon, committed the dastardly act in a VIP £2,000-a-booth Manchester nightclub which is popular with football stars.
The waitress, who spoke with The Sun UK, told of her disgust at being sacked by the nightclub after reporting the alleged sexual assault by Lennon.
Twenty-year-old Charlotte Long claimed the star groped her before ripping her dress and slapping her while partying with pals in the VIP section. Charlotte was sacked after reporting Lennon to police and last week received a payout for unfair dismissal but she said: “The whole thing makes me sick.”
According to reports, 29-year-old Lennon was out with friends in the £2,000-a-booth VIP section of Manchester’s Suede nightclub last April when the alleged attack occurred.
Charlotte, 18 at the time and on £7 an hour, recalled: “There were always footballers and celebs there so it was nothing unusual.
“He was spending loads on drinks. People were going up to him, chatting and asking for pictures. He seemed in a good mood and was having a laugh.”
But Charlotte claimed it turned nasty when she walked past the £55,000-a-week star.
She said: “He groped at me, ripping my top. When I shook him off he slapped me round the face.
“It stung and I felt my cheek swelling up. I was in complete shock.
“I got really upset and rushed to the toilets, expecting staff or management to have noticed and follow me in but nobody did.
“After a few minutes I’d calmed down and came out.
“When I told my manager what happened I was told to take five minutes, put my make-up on and get back out there.”
Charlotte said she was told Lennon had been ejected from the club but was then shocked to discover he was still there.
She said: “I was completely shaken and didn’t know what to do, so I finished the shift and tried to stay away from him.”
The next day she told her mum Gill, a litigation executive, who was outraged.
Charlotte said: “We both felt the club should have taken my complaints more seriously and done more to protect me.
“My mum said I should go to the police but I was terrified of losing my job if I did.
“I knew they wouldn’t want me to get one of their celebrity guests into trouble or put them off returning to the club.”
Gill went to Suede and Everton FC but was frustrated by a lack of response, so told police four days later and Lennon was interviewed by officers under caution and weeks later, Charlotte was sacked from Suede over the phone.
She was then further devastated to hear police were dropping the investigation due to a lack of evidence.
She said: “I couldn’t stop crying. It wasn’t just the fact I’d lost a job I loved, I felt so betrayed.”
A spokesman for Lennon said: “This was an allegation made to police, which they investigated and discontinued.”