The case against Chelsea captain John Terry for allegedly racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand should never have gone to court, team-mate Ashley Cole claimed on the witness stand on Wednesday.
"JT was saying he thought Anton had said something black and he's just repeated it. That was it. I think we shouldn't be sitting here, personally," Cole told Westminster Magistrates' Court.
The Blues full-back admitted that he had not heard the initial exchange between Terry and Ferdinand despite standing "less than a car length" away from his captain at the time, though added: "When JT turns around I was on the halfway line looking for a free kick where they'd made a foul.
"I remember JT running back and Anton shouting things and making gestures."
Cole replied, when asked if anything had been said: "[From] what I can make out, yes. I can make out him either saying 'Bridgey', or 'black'. I can't say either. I don't hear it out loud but I'm looking at him."
The left-back had later been involved after the match in a dressing-room discussion between Terry and Ferdinand on the issue.
"Because of what JT has said on the pitch, Anton's come into the changing room and repeated it and I've repeated it back and that's it," he explained. "I said: 'Did you think he called you a racist name?'
"Basically, yeah, that was it," Cole answered when prosecutor Mr Duncan Penny suggested that that discussion had "smoothed it over". "If someone just goes up to someone and says it then of course you wouldn't take it. If someone's repeated it it's different. Racism shouldn't be tolerated."
Earlier on the third day of the trial, Terry claimed that he was eager to speak to the authorities before he had even seen any video footage of the incident, so confident was he of his innocence.
He declared on the stand: "I knew there was nothing out there that would show that I had done anything wrong.
"I was keen to go forward with my police statement, my FA statement. If I had anything to hide I wouldn't have done that."
The prosecution had put it to Terry that he had lashed out at Ferdinand due to continually being "humiliated in public", over his alleged affair with the partner of his former team-mate Wayne Bridge.
Prosecutor Mr Duncan Penny said: "You knew you'd crossed the line, you've regretted it ever since, and you're stuck with this story," which the Chelsea man denied.
The case continues.
Originally Posted by Ach
Cole to give evidence later on today
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote