Former footballer Paul Gascoigne has been cleared of sexually assaulting a woman on a York train after he kissed her on the lips.
The 52-year-old told jurors he had no sexual intention when he planted the sloppy kiss on the stranger, who he said had been abused by another passenger.
Gascoigne, who denied a single charge of sexual assault, told Teesside Crown Court that he kissed the woman on the York to Newcastle train in August 2018 to boost her confidence after he claimed he heard someone call her fat.
On Thursday a jury cleared him of that offence, plus a less serious alternative charge of assault by beating which they were told to consider by Judge Peter Armstrong.
After the verdict was returned the ex-Newcastle and England midfielder thanked the judge, the jury and his dentist – an apparent reference to evidence earlier in the trial about him not having his false teeth in when he was on the train.