The basis of the plea was not given in court and no further details about the sexual assault were made public. Photo / NZPA
A former New Zealand footballer has admitted sexually assaulting a young woman as she slept in her bed in England.
Ex-Manchester City and Glasgow Celtic player Chris Killen, 35, was in a "stupefied state" from alcohol when he went into the spare bedroom of the house where the woman was
staying in Bury, Greater Manchester, and touched her sexually.
Killen, who played 48 times for the All Whites, had pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing but admitted the offence shortly before he was due to go on trial before a jury at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, on Wednesday.
He stood in the dock and pleaded guilty to a single charge of sexual assault on September 17 last year. His lawyer Lisa Judge said the guilty plea had been made on a "specific basis" as to what Killen had admitted doing, and this had been accepted by the prosecution.
The basis of the plea was not given in court and no further details about the sexual assault were made public. Judge said Killen, who now lives near Macclesfield, had "no relevant" previous convictions.
