John Terry: 'I was angry and upset when Anton Ferdinand accused me of being racist'

 
Former England captain John Terry arrives at court today
Paul Cheston10 July 2012
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Former England captain John Terry this afternoon told a court how angry he had felt during the allegedly racist confrontation with Anton Ferdinand.

He said he was furious that Ferdinand had falsely accused him of making a racial insult.

He then repeated Ferdinand's words "black c***" back at his rival because that is his normal pattern of speech.

"He had accused me of that and if somebody calls me a fat c*** or an ugly c*** I would repeat that and say 'fat c***, ugly c***, look at yourself,'" he told Westminster Magistrates Court.

Terry said his demeanour changed from smiling at Ferdinand's barbs about his extra marital affair with ex-teammate Wayne Bridge's girlfriend to fury.

He had become used to this abuse for the past two years, he said, and was "relaxed" and didn't react until Ferdinand accused him of being a racist.

"Anton said to me '... Calling me a black c***' that's what I remember," he told the court.

"I felt angry. It's absolutely not permitted on the football pitch. I was very angry and upset as well.

"I responded to that by saying ' black c***? F****** nobhead'.

"I accused him of being a nobhead for suggesting I had said that.

"I had been smiling but my demeanour changed because of what he had accused me of.

"I said something to Ashley Cole while the game was still playing and the ball was in play. I said 'Anton has accused me of being a racist'. I don't know what his response was."

Terry revealed there were further clashes between Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers players in the tunnel after the final whistle but neither he nor Ferdinand were involved.

Earlier it emerged Ferdinand was ready to sue Terry privately if the Chelsea captain was not charged in a criminal court, the court heard today.

Ferdinand’s public relations agent told police there would be “ramifications” if charges were not brought.

Justin Rigby said there would be serious consequences “because it would appear to black football players that it was a case of a white man’s word against a black man’s word,” the court was told.

As result police notes recorded that Mr Rigby told them that “should the Crown Prosecution Service not charge John Terry I will be advising Anton Ferdinand to take out a civil claim.”

On a second day of the racist abuse trial at Westminster Magistrates Court Terry’s QC, George Carter-Stephenson, branded Ferdinand “clearly an unreliable witness.”

He told the court that the prosecution had failed to prove its case against Terry and asked Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle to throw the case out without the Chelsea captain having to enter the witness box.

Mr Riddle was due to rule on the defence application later this afternoon.

Mr Carter-Stephenson said that the TV footage of the QPR v Chelsea last October, played in court was “interrupted and incomplete” in its pictures of the two players in their crucial verbal clash.

He added that the evidence from lip readers had failed to agree on the exact words used by the rival players and that lip reading evidence itself was “not a precise science” to support a criminal charge.

He also added that Ferdinand had changed his version the events between his statement to the police and his evidence in the witness box and was “clearly not a reliable witness.”

Earlier Mr Carter-Stephenson had also suggested that Ferdinand was “reluctant” to help police in their criminal investigation into the Terry allegations.

But when Mr Rigby became the “facilitator” between detectives and the football stars the attitude changed.

DC David Doherty said that Mr Rigby was used as a go-between because Ferdinand “lives a very different lifestyle to a normal person - all he does is play football and outside that he is very unstructured in his lifestyle and is very difficult to get hold of.”

DC Doherty denied that Mr Rigby had put pressure on the police to charge Terry because detectives only gather evidence and the CPS takes the charging decision.

The court also heard Ferdinand was 26 metres away from Terry when the Chelsea captain allegedly racially abused him.

The QPR defender said that he did not hear the alleged racist verbal attack and only heard about it after the match.

Both players admit they were yelling foul-mouthed abuse at each other on the pitch, which was surrounded by a 20,000 crowd at the Loftus Road ground in a frenzy of excitement at the west London derby.

The abuse between the two players — including a hand gesture by Ferdinand, allegedly intended to goad Terry — lasted eight seconds.

Figures provided by the video analysts Prozone of the crucial moments in the Premier League match in October last year were read to the court today.

The clashes occurred in the 84th minute of the match.

During that time Ferdinand and Terry collided going for the ball in the QPR penalty area and foul abuse was exchanged for the first time.

When the referee separates the two Terry runs back to the halfway line and both players continue yelling insults at each other.

Ferdinand makes a hand gesture and refers to Terry “shagging your team mates’ missus” in a reference to the Chelsea captain’s extramarital affair with the girlfriend of Wayne Bridge.

Terry is then alleged to have shouted back “f*** off - f****** black c***, f****** knobhead”.

At this time they are 26 metres apart, the gap narrows to 18 metres after 14 seconds before stretching to 23 metres in the following five seconds.

Further video footage was played to the court today of the frenzied final minutes of the match watched by a live audience of two million viewers at home and many more in pubs and clubs.

The audio tape of Terry’s interview with the FA five days after the match was also played in court.

At Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham Terry admits saying the words “black c***”

But says he is reflecting what he thinks Ferdinand had said to him (Terry) in the mistaken belief that he (Ferdinand) had been racially abused.

Terry, 31, the former England captain, who played all four matches in his country’s European Championships campaign last month, has pleaded not guilty to an aggravated public order offence.

He is accused of using offensive racist language “demonstrating hostility based on Ferdinand’s membership or presumed membership of a racial group.”

The case continues.

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