Jailed: Former Shrewsbury Town player found guilty of sexually assaulting woman
A former Shrewsbury Town player has been jailed for three and a half years in his absence after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting a woman he invited to stay on his sofa.
Cameroonian Guy Madjo was found guilty at Winchester Crown Court of the offence of sexual penetration of the woman at his home in Grayshott, Hampshire, on August 17 2014.
The 31-year-old, who made 15 appearance for Shrewsbury Town in 2008, scoring three goals, did not attend the trial. A previous hearing was told that he was in West Africa and had recently played for teams in Gabon as well as the Cameroon national team.
A warrant for his arrest was issued by the court in May last year but a decision to go ahead with the trial was taken when he failed to return to the country.
Rebecca Austin, prosecuting, told the court that the victim had been drinking in her local pub on the previous evening and returned to her flat to find she had been locked out by her partner.
The woman then got her hand stuck in the letter box and called police for help but, while she was on the phone, Madjo, who lived nearby, helped her remove her hand.
The defendant invited her to stay for the night on the sofa of his home where he lived with his wife, who was at home at the time, and she accepted.
Miss Austin said the woman, who described herself as "tipsy", fell asleep on the sofa but awoke to find herself being assaulted by the defendant.
She said: "She immediately got up and immediately left. Mr Madjo tried to follow her and tried to encourage her to come back to his flat and got her by the arm.
"She left, walked away and called the police - she said she was being followed by him. She ran away from Mr Madjo, she fell and then she hid behind a car. She was found by a neighbour."
Miss Austin said Madjo, who plays as a striker, was later arrested and added: "He denied that the offence took place, he denied that he touched her sexually at all, he continues to deny that to this day."
Madjo, who has previously played for the Cameroonian under-23 national team, first played in the UK as a senior for Petersfield Town before playing for other teams including Bristol City, Forest Green Rovers, Stafford Rangers, Crawley Town, Plymouth Argyle, Stevenage and Macclesfield Town.
