Adam Johnson looked up 'legal age of consent', under-age sex charges trial told

The ex-Sunderland footballer stands accused of two counts of sexual activity with a child, and is on trial at Bradford Crown Court.

Today, Dr Paul Hunton, a computing investigation specialist and digital forensic examiner, gave evidence on behalf of the prosecution.

He confirmed to Kate Blackwell QC, prosecuting, that he had carried out "downloads" on two phones used by the complainant in the case, three belonging to her friends and the iPhone 6 seized from Johnson upon his arrest.

These downloads mean that an "exact copy" of the data contained on a specific handset can be looked at.

Dr Hunton confirmed to jurors that he had examined three web history entries, which were dated as being carried out on Johnson's phone just days after his second meeting with the girl.

It was at this meeting that Johnson allegedly touched the girl, and she performed a sex act on him.

One of the history entries revealed a Google search for "legal age of consent".

When opening the case last week, Miss Blackwell told jurors that Johnson had carried out the search.

Dr Hunton said: "The phone will record the history of each website address it visits."

He explained to the court that he could identify that Google had been asked a question and this was, "legal age of consent".

Out of the results generated by the search, Johnson's phone download revealed that two of these had been clicked on - one article from The Mirror and another page from BBC Radio 1.

Speaking of the Mirror article, Dr Hutton told the court: "The page title was 'what is the age of consent around the world?'"

A "BBC Advice" page on Radio 1's website was also visited, he added.

This page was titled "age of consent".

The trial continues.