'I now feel I am being harassed' - Kyle Walker responds after another lockdown breach

Kyle Walker has claimed he is being “harassed” after again admitting to flouting strict lockdown rules by visiting his sister and parents.

The Manchester City and England defender was forced to issue an apology last month after hosting a party with two sex workers and a friend at his Cheshire apartment.

Now Walker has been caught breaching social distancing guidelines for a second time after driving from his home in Cheshire to visit his sister, Laura, at her house in Rotherham on Wednesday afternoon before then going to see his parents in Sheffield.

City launched a disciplinary inquiry last month over Walker’s initial breaches, which has still to be concluded, but the Premier League champions will not be conducting a fresh investigation into the 29-year-old’s latest transgressions.

It is understood that there are a series of personal issues in Walker’s life that City feel offer some mitigation against his latest actions.

The stories about Walker’s breaches were revealed by The Sun newspaper but, while the England right back said he accepted responsibility for breaking lockdown rules, he said he felt hounded by the intrusion into his private life and was concerned about the impact it is having on the mental health of his family and children.

In a statement posted on his Twitter account, Walker wrote: “I feel as though I have stayed silent long enough. In light of the most recent article published about me and my family, I feel as though I have no choice but to address things publicly.

“I have recently gone through one of the toughest periods of my life, which I take full responsibility for. However, I now feel as though I am being harassed.

“This is no longer solely affecting me, but affecting the health of my family and young children too.”

Walker said he had visited his sister to give her a birthday card and seek some comfort and had travelled to his parents to collect some home-cooked meals.

“In relation to the events on Wednesday, I travelled to Sheffield to give my sister a birthday card and present, but also to speak to one of the few people I believe I can trust in my life,” Walker tweeted.

“She hugged me to remind me how much she cares and that I am loved. What am I meant to do - push her away?

“I then travelled to my parents' house to pick up some home-cooked meals. Again, it’s been an extremely tough couple of months for them: everything I've gone through in my life they have gone through with me.

“What have my parents and sister done to deserve their privacy being invaded by photographers following me to their homes? I constantly feel as though I am being followed. I don’t even feel safe in the confines of my own home - why should they have to feel like that too? Who deserves that?

“I am in a privileged position as a role model and a professional athlete, and can assure you from my upbringing that I do not take it for granted. But at what stage do my feelings get taken into consideration?

“My family has been torn apart, this has been dragged through the press, and I ask: when is enough enough?”

Walker said he was concerned about the mental health aspects. “At a time when the focus is understandably on Covid-19, at what point does mental health get taken into consideration, an illness which affects every sufferer differently? I am a human being, with feelings of pain and upset just like everybody else,” he tweeted.

“Being in the public eye as a professional athlete does not make you immune to this. It is sad, but I feel as though my life is being scrutinised without any context.

“I understand if people are upset or angry with me, but it was important for people to have a better understanding of my life.”