Terry tells racism trial he did nothing wrong

LONDON (AFP) –

Chelsea and England footballer John Terry arrives for the third day of his trial at Westminster Magistrates court in London on Wednesday. Terry told his trial that he was keen to speak to the police about racist abuse allegations as the former England football captain knew he had not “done anything wrong”.

John Terry told his trial Wednesday that he was keen to speak to the police about racist abuse allegations as the former England football captain knew he had not “done anything wrong”.

The Chelsea captain is accused of using a racist slur against Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand during a match between Chelsea and QPR on October 23 last year.

Terry, standing trial at Westminster Magistrates Court in London, denies committing a racially aggravated public order offence.

Taking the witness stand again on the third day of the trial, the 31-year-old said: “I knew there was nothing out there that would show that I had done anything wrong.”

He said he wanted to speak to the police and to the Football Association, the sport’s governing body in England, to address the allegations.

“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,” he said.

Terry said he made a statement before seeing any footage of the incident.

Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole (centre) arrives to attend the trial of his teammate John Terry at Westminster Magistrates court in London on Wednesday. Terry told his trial Wednesday that he was keen to speak to the police about racist abuse allegations as the former England football captain knew he had not “done anything wrong”.

“If there was ever any doubt in my mind, I could have held back, soaked it up and thought ‘Let’s wait until tomorrow, let’s see what kind of footage is out there’.”

The England defender also denied that he had made a remark about having sex with Ferdinand’s girlfriend, in response to taunts about his alleged affair with the mother of a former team-mate’s child.

Giving evidence Tuesday, Terry told the court he was sarcastically repeating words he thought Ferdinand had said to him.

He said that after the match, he asked Ferdinand if he had accused him of using the racist term.

“His reply to that was ‘no, no, no. We all said things we shouldn’t have said; that’s the end of it’,” Terry told the court.

If found guilty, Terry could be fined up to £2,500 ($3,850, 3,150 euros).

The trial is expected to take five days.