The last we saw of Adam Johnson was at the back of a courtroom in Bradford, dressed in prison-issue grey slacks as he sat stoney-faced and remorseless in the dock.
Guilty of grooming and sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl, the former England and Sunderland winger had asked to be sent down a few hours earlier when his six-year sentence was passed, rather than return for legal arguments.
The judge denied his request. Johnson, it seemed, wanted to escape the court where his sordid life of infidelity had been unpicked and exposed, preferring to get on with the prison term he felt was so harsh.
Adam Johnson has been released from prison after a three year sentence for child sex abuse
Now, three years on, it is done. Johnson is a free man, hurried out of HMP Moorland near Doncaster under the cover of small-hours darkness. Except, he will never be free.
Never will he be free of the conviction, nor the requirement to sign the sex offenders register. Never will he be free to play football in England, a likelihood he accepted during a leaked video from his time inside, footage which remains the only sighting of him since that day in the dock.
'I've got more chance abroad,' he told fellow inmates as he held court in the laundry room. 'You can't get a second chance in England, man. All them do-gooders are gonna come out and say, "Oh, he can't f****** play like".'
Yes, those 'do-gooders' will say that, because they are right. At no point has Johnson apologised to his victim, a young fan who idolised him. In the leaked video he sickeningly claimed that he wished he had raped the schoolgirl given the length of his sentence.
Johnson was driven to the family home by his dad after being released from prison at midnight
It was only because of his fame, the judge said, that Johnson was able to take advantage of her, 'abusing his celebrity status'. Why would any club risk signing a sex offender for whom an aggravating factor is said to be his very employment as a footballer?
Johnson, at 31 and with his time served, will no doubt want to resume his playing career. He will believe he should be allowed to play and earn, especially given his warped sense of innocence.
Sportsmail
