Premier League star Titus Bramble groped a woman in a nightclub before repeatedly sexually assaulting another in the back of a taxi, a court heard today. The Sunderland defender, 30, is claimed to have repeatedly grabbed the second woman’s hand and put it on his crotch. The driver of the cab was so concerned he drove the two straight to a police station, jurors were told. In the other claim, a woman says someone pinched her bottom when she was at a bar in Yarm, Teeside, at around 1am. When she turned around, she saw a man alleged to be Bramble smirking at her. Shaun Dodds, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said today: “It is significant that we have here key witnesses who don’t know each other and are both making separate and independent allegations against this defendant’s sexual conduct in the early hours of September 28.” Bramble, from Wynyard, near Middlesbrough, faces four charges, all of which he denies. In the first complaint, Mr Dodds told the court a male friend told woman No1 that the man who pinched her bottom played for Sunderland. Mr Dodds said: “She didn’t know who he was. She said, ‘I don’t care what he does, he is not grabbing my a*** like that.’” He also told the jury she went up to him and told him “Don’t you touch me like that again” before he was ushered away by friends. When news of the second complainant appeared on the TV news the next day, the first woman told her father and police were called, the court heard. She later picked Bramble out in an identity parade. Bramble denies it was him who groped the woman. Around 30 minutes later, a woman Bramble knew was helping a friend who felt unwell. He led her into an alleyway and kissed her but after a moment she stopped as she knew he had a girlfriend, Mr Dodds said. He asked her to go to a Middlesbrough nightclub but she declined, though she agreed to share a taxi with him so she could be dropped off at home, the jury heard. Mr Dodds said: “Once in the taxi, the defendant told the driver to take them to Wynyard where he lives.” An argument followed between the driver and Bramble about payment until the player handed over £15 and the woman £5. Prosecutors say she believed she was still being dropped off at her home. During the journey Bramble told the woman his relationship was over, the court heard, before leaning across and putting his hand on her leg and moving it up. Mr Dodds said: “The prosecution say she tells him to stop and moves his hand away.” She again said “no” when Bramble tried to kiss her, the jury heard. He then took her hand and placed it on his crotch, over his jeans. Mr Dodds said: “She started to feel scared at this stage.” She told the driver to head towards her home, and not in the Wynyard direction, the jury heard, but Bramble told the driver to go his home. He then grabbed her hand and again placed it over the crotch of his jeans. Mr Dodds said she pulled her hand away, saying “This is not right. Stop.” The driver became aware something was wrong when the woman got hold of his arm. He later described her as looking very sad and scared. He was so concerned he drove to Stockton police station on the pretext there was a problem with the fare, the jury was told. Mr Dodds said: “He was driving there because of his concerns about what he could see happening in the back of the taxi.” The driver went into the police station, followed by Bramble and the woman, and asked to speak to an officer away from the footballer. Meanwhile, the complainant locked herself in a toilet and refused to come out until she was sure Bramble was not there. He was subsequently arrested and did not reply when the allegations were put to him, Mr Dodds said. The defence will argue that he did not touch the first complainant and that any sexual activity in the taxi was consensual, Mr Dodds said. The trial continues.