A FORMER tabloid newspaper editor has been ordered to pay £2,300 for printing a photograph of Adam Johnson’s teenage victim.

On March 4 last year, just two days after the Sunderland player was arrested, The Sun newspaper carried a pixelated picture of the schoolgirl standing beside Johnson as part of an article on the case.

Today (Monday, March 7), after a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, former editor David Dinsmore was found guilty of breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, which guarantees lifelong anonymity to the victims of sexual offences.

The 47-year-old newspaper executive was ordered to pay £1,300 costs and £1,000 in compensation.

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Aelfwynn Sampson, of Durham Constabulary, said: “We are delighted with today’s result.

“What Dinsmore did in The Sun was legally and morally wrong.

“As a victim of a sexual offence, the identity of this child should have been protected. Instead her picture, although pixelated, was plastered across a national tabloid.

“She was not fair game, she was a child who was groomed by a person in power for his own sexual gratification.

“I hope today’s result serves as reminder that anyone who identifies someone who may or may not be a victim of a sexual offence is committing a criminal act and we will take robust action.”

Originally, police had hoped to also prosecute The Sun’s publishers as well as its editor, but a mistake on paperwork meant the case was thrown out by the court.

Johnson is to be sentenced later this month for two counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of grooming.

His 15-year-old victim said she had been left “broken” by her ordeal over the last year.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that a Facebook group set up in support of Johnson has attracted more than 1800 supporters before it was removed because of complaints.

The Adam Johnson’s Appeal Fight page was set up in support of the Sunderland star’s attempt to have one of his convictions overturned.

The site attracted several comments in support of the player, and others critical of his schoolgirl victim, before it was closed down.