The black brother of Sunderland footballer Titus Bramble has been jailed for raping a 19-year-old woman

Tesfaye Bramble, an ex-footballer, had denied raping his victim at the Vermont Hotel in Newcastle in September 2010. The 31-year-old, from Ipswich, was found guilty after a trial at Leeds Crown Court earlier in 2011. He has been jailed for four-and-half years by the same court. Sentencing him, Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said that Tesfaye Bramble had shown not a shred of remorse. The victim, who is now 20, said that the incident happened after she met the Bramble brothers and their entourage in the VIP section of Madame Koo's bar, Newcastle, on September 22, 2010. The trial heard that the footballers were in the bar following a Sunderland match and had booked three rooms at the Vermont. The woman said that one of the men, Simon Pharaoh, helped her take her drunken friend home to Jesmond. She then drove him back to the hotel and accepted his invitation to go in. The victim said that, after chatting to the group, she went to sleep. Tesfaye Bramble claimed he had got into the bed to try his luck and that sex had been consensual. The trial heard the woman left the hotel shortly afterwards. She said: "As I was driving, I was retching. I was in shock. I cried like I've never cried in my life." Sentencing Tesfaye Bramble, Judge Marson said: "It has been described as opportunistic and it was to some extent. There was only one reason why you went back to the room... and that was to have sexual intercourse with her. I am entirely satisfied she was asleep at the time and was incapable of giving her consent and you knew it. You, and those involved in such activities, seem to have an attitude borne out by the contents of the pre-sentence report that says when young women go back to hotels in those circumstances with footballers, they go back for one reason only and that is to have sexual intercourse. They have a right to be protected and she had a right to be there and to be left alone and you abused it." After the sentencing, Acting Det Insp Phil Mordue, of Northumbria Police's rape investigation team, said: "This was a difficult trial for the victim in this case, who should be praised for the strength, courage and belief she showed throughout."