Solicitor denies he told Leeds player to conceal evidence

A solicitor and director of Leeds United Football Club denied in court yesterday that he told one of his players, Michael Duberry, to lie to police. It would have been "the end of my career and of my freedom as well," said Peter McCormick.

Mr McCormick, an associate director and former solicitor at the Premier League club, has been publicly accused of instructing Mr Duberry to conceal evidence incriminating his team-mates Jonathan Woodgate, 21, and Lee Bowyer, 24, who are on trial accused of beating and kicking an Asian student unconscious during a night out in Leeds in January last year.

But Mr McCormick, speaking out for the first time since the allegation was levelled against him by Mr Duberry eight months ago, said it bore "no truth whatsoever".

Mr McCormick told Hull Crown Court: "It was entirely the reverse. It was then that I told him that if he had said anything to the police that was not the truth, now was the time to tell the truth."

In the witness box, Mr Duberry had changed his story from the statement he gave to police, saying Mr Woodgate told him that he and his friends had been in a fight with an Asian man. Mr Duberry said Mr McCormick had told him to "stick to his story" rather than change it.

Mr McCormick, who first discussed the case with Mr Duberry on 31 January, two weeks after the alleged attack, said he had asked Mr Duberry if he wanted to alter his statement on several occasions – but the £4.5m former Chelsea centre back declined and said his statement was true.

Mr Woodgate, from Middlesbrough, and Mr Bowyer, from Leeds, are accused of assaulting Sarfraz Najeib after an argument developed outside the Majestyk nightclub in Leeds. Paul Clifford and Neale Caveney, both 22 and from Middlesbrough, are also accused of taking part in the alleged assault. All four deny causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Najeib, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire. They also deny affray.

The trial continues today.