Sunderland footballer accused of rape says he ‘would never, ever think of doing that’

A professional footballer in the UK accused of raping a woman he originally met on Tinder has told a court he was trying to “comfort her” after thinking she was “in a mood” about him rejecting her advances.

Sunderland winger Jack Diamond (23) denies raping and sexually assaulting the woman after inviting her to his home in Fatfield, Washington, Sunderland, in May 2022.

Prosecutors claim Diamond forced himself on the complainant after agreeing, before she visited, that “nothing more than cuddling would happen”.

Newcastle Crown Court jurors have heard the pair became “friends with benefits” after meeting on a dating app, but the woman said she had not had sex with Diamond since going on medication in March 2022 which could cause foetal abnormalities.

Giving evidence on Thursday, Diamond said the pair had sex “pretty much every time” they saw each other, but that he did not want anything more serious as he had just come out of a four-year relationship when they first met.

He told the court that on the night of the alleged assaults, he had drunk “about four or five pints” with friends and invited the woman over to “relax and cuddle”.

He said he hoped that sexual activity might happen but that “it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind”.

Diamond said the woman got into bed with him and there was some sexual activity, but that when she mounted him and tried to initiate sex, he said: “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

The defendant told the court the woman turned away from him so he started to touch her bottom and legs “just to almost comfort her because I thought she was getting in a mood”.

Diamond said when he put his hand inside her thigh the woman pushed his hand away and said “no”.

He told jurors the two of them then started