The grandfather of footballer Jesse Lingard told a court he was not an “ogre” while denying allegations of sexual assault.
Kenneth Lingard was giving evidence in his trial at Liverpool Crown Court earlier.
The 86-year-old, from Northway, Warrington, is accused of 17 counts of indecent assault against a woman, who alleges he abused her from the age of five.
Mr Lingard said the specific allegations put to him “never happened”, adding “It wasn’t like she’s making it out to be, that I was this ogre.”
At the opening of the trial, the court heard the woman contacted police in 2022 after seeing a documentary in which Jesse Lingard spoke about his grandfather’s influence on his career.
Mr Lingard told the court he had heard “rumours” that the complainant was talking to people about him “abusing her”.
He said: “I was never confronted about it by anybody.”
He denied being confronted by the complainant, but said her ex-husband had been to see him once.
Lingard said: “He came this particular day, knocked on the door.
“He said ‘Is there anything that’s true about what [the complainant] is saying you’ve done to her?’
“I said ‘No, should I get a solicitor?’ He said ‘That’ll do for me, Ken’.”
The jury was told Mr Lingard had previously had prostate cancer, a heart attack and a back operation that went wrong.
He also had problems with his eyesight and hearing, the court heard.
The trial was adjourned until Tuesday.
