Footballer Andy Carroll reveals he was victim of sexual assault - as he describes 'traumatic' attack in new book
The former England striker said the attacker later received a three-year jail term for the sexual assault that took place at his house as the pair watched a boxing match.
Former England and Liverpool striker Andy Carroll has revealed he was sexually assaulted by a "celebrity" friend who was later jailed for three years.
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The 37-year-old recalled the incident in his new autobiography, Owning It, and said it was so traumatic he only decided to include it "last minute".
Carroll said the assault happened on the evening after playing for Newcastle during his second stint there five years ago, as the pair watched a boxing match together.
The book claims that the man, who he described as a "celebrity mate", had invited himself round to watch the fight but Carroll said he always thought there was "something odd about him".
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The football star went to bed early after feeling uncomfortable during their interactions and asked himself whether the man had "slipped him something" because he felt light-headed.
He then later woke up to the man under his bedsheets sexually assaulting him.
Carroll reacted by punching him and ordering him out of the house.
He wrote: "I grab hold of his feet and drag him out on the driveway. I go back inside, lock the door and call the police and the nanny.
"Then it suddenly occurs to me, what if I killed him?
"He regains consciousness just as the police turn up and immediately starts telling the policed I hit him for no reason.
"As it is the police arrest him and I have to go to the station as well."
The attacker was later convicted of sexual offences and sentenced to three years in prison, according to the new book.
Describing the ordeal, Carroll wrote: "Other things I'd quite like to forget but can't, something happened to me a few years ago that was so traumatic I only decided to include it in this book at the very last minute.
"I was sexually assaulted, there I said it.
"Me and Lou [girlfriend Lou Teasdale] spent a lot of time discussing whether to mention it in this book or not.
"I avoided my publisher for so long that they probably suspected I got cold feet.
"Scary to even think about and only a few people knew about it before now."
Earlier this year, Carroll, now a player-coach at Dagenham and Redbridge, pleaded not guilty to breaching a non-molestation order after being accused of repeatedly calling his reality TV star ex-wife Billi Mucklow, and is due to stand trial next year.
He is charged with breaching an order made by the family court at Chelmsford Justice Centre by allegedly repeatedly calling his ex-wife, Ms Mucklow, "without reasonable excuse" in March last year.