Leicester players innocent till proven guilty, says manager

THREE Leicester City footballers faced another night in jail as their manager Micky Adams insisted yesterday his players were “innocent until proven guilty”.

No decision was made on bail for Paul Dickov, Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair, who are accused of sexually assaulting three women in a hotel last week.

Adams criticised the players for drinking too much during their warm weather break at the exclusive La Manga resort but said he knew several of the nine who were first arrested were “not there” when the alleged incident took place.

The women’s lawyer Encarnacion Gomez said that her clients had never had any consenting sexual relations with the players.

She confirmed the allegations against the three accused centred around claims that two restrained one of the women, while a third raped her.

The lawyer said the results of forensic tests on the women’s clothes were still awaited. She added that the women were still in the area but were keen to go home.

She denied suggestions that the players and the women had gone out together for a meal on the evening of the alleged incident.

She said: “They didn’t go out together. They got to know each other in an Italian restaurant, but they were not together.”

Asked about photographs published in the media of the women with the players, she said they had met in a bar later by coincidence. She added: “There were not voluntary sexual relations.”

The women were in their thirties and had been on a weekend break at the five-star Hyatt Regency Hotel when the attack is alleged to have taken place.

They were in Spain to see a golf tournament and were now staying on in the country, at their own expense.

Ms Gomez said two were from Kenya and one was from Malawi. Two of the women lived in Germany.

One of the group is involved in marketing and PR while another is a businesswoman and a third is married with children.

Asked about how they were now, Ms Gomez said: “They are well, but worried. And psychologically bad. They didn’t expect this.” She said they were expected to return to their homes by the end of the week, adding: “They want the shortest time here. They are virtually in prison.”