Footballer’s brother guilty of raping teen

THE brother of Premier League footballer Titus Bramble was warned he faces an “inevitable” prison sentence after being found guilty of raping a teenage girl.

Tesfaye Bramble — who played for Southend United, Stockport County and Stevenage before his career was ended by injury — raped a 19-year-old woman in the Vermont Hotel in Newcastle following a night out.

A jury at Leeds Crown Court took five hours to find 30-year-old Bramble guilty of rape by a majority of 10-2. His brother, Sunderland defender Titus Bramble, sat in the public gallery as the jury returned the guilty verdict.

As the verdict was announced Tesfaye Bramble shook his head and looked at the floor.

Judge Geoffrey Marson adjourned sentencing until August 5 to allow a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Bramble’s barrister asked the judge to grant him bail, to allow him to “put his affairs in order”.

Judge Marson granted him conditional bail, but told him: “You understand a custodial sentence is inevitable.”

The victim told the trial she met the Bramble brothers and their entourage in the VIP section of Madame Koo’s bar, in Newcastle city centre, on September 22 last year.

Titus Bramble gave evidence in his brother’s defence.

He said he had been going out in Newcastle for years and “nearly every time a girl came back to the hotel, it was for sex”.

He added: “I assume that when a girl’s coming back to a hotel after the club, it’s for sex.”