A promising woman footballer who tricked young girls into sexual acts by dressing as a teenage boy has been jailed for nine years.

Chantelle Johnson, who was on the books of Middlesbrough FC Ladies, created the online persona of 13-year-old Drew and convinced the youngsters, who were aged 12 and 13, that he was besotted with them.

Johnson, 19, would eventually turn the online chat to sexual matters and arranged to meet the girls, where she wore boyish clothes, no make-up and pulled a hoody tightly around her head to reveal only her face, a court heard.

Late last year, she kissed and intimately touched one of her three victims, a girl aged 13, while dressed in her guise of Drew, Teesside Crown Court was told. Prosecutor Paul Cleasby said:

"The girl believed she was in a relationship with a male called Drew who told her he was 13 years old. The contact had started via Instagram with the defendant messaging the girl giving her compliments on how she looked. "Due to this flattery the girl began communicating with the character Drew on a daily basis and within a few days Drew tells her that he wants to be in a relationship with her. "Having lured the child into the early stages of a relationship the defendant began turning the conversation to matters of a sexual nature. "The defendant, under the guise of Drew, told the child he wanted to penetrate her vagina digitally and asked whether the child would want this. The child said she was too young."

However, after persistent grooming, the girl agreed to meet "Drew" and on each occasion Johnson wore a hood to disguise her long hair.