John Terry denies he 'snapped' during confrontation with Anton Ferdinand
Tuesday 10 July 2012
Related articles
England footballer John Terry today denied he had "snapped" and used a racist obscenity after being taunted by another player.
Terry, 31, is accused of calling Anton Ferdinand a "f****** black c***" during a Premier League match on October 23 last year.
Today at Westminster Magistrates Court, prosecutor Duncan Penny said he had "snapped" over Ferdinand's taunts about his alleged affair with former team-mate Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend.
He said: "You're not a racist are you? But you used racist language because you snapped and it was instinctive. You were fed up with people abusing you over the issue with your wife."
Terry replied: "It was almost two years on and I had heard it a million times before.
"If I was going to snap, I would have snapped long before."
He agreed that he had been "stitched up right and proper" by the allegations.
Terry claims he was sarcastically repeating the words that QPR centre-half Ferdinand mistakenly thought he had used.
He denies a racially-aggravated public order offence.
Mr Penny asked why, on Terry's account, he had repeated the racial abuse.
The prosecutor said: "You said that your response was to repeat back 'a black c***', or 'calling me a black c***?' How about 'what?' Straightforward, 'what?"'
Terry replied: "At the time I was shocked and angry. I had never been accused of it on a football pitch and repeated it back."
He added: "Hindsight's a wonderful thing. At the time I was shocked, I was angry, you can't control your emotions."
The defender said he would have repeated the word "n*****" back if it had been used.
Earlier the father-of-two, wearing a dark suit, said he would be goaded about the alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel at "more or less every game".
But he said he would "just laugh it off basically".
After the match, at Loftus Road on October 23 last year, Terry said he twice asked Ferdinand if he had accused him of using the racist insult.
"I said: 'I thought you were accusing me of calling you a black c***'. His reply to that was 'no, no, no. We all said things we shouldn't have said, that's the end of it'.
"I asked him twice and he said no, I thought that was the end of it."
Terry said he had not considered apologising to Ferdinand because the QPR player had accused him.
"Why would I apologise to Anton when he is the one who accused me? What I said was in response to what Anton said to me."
The trial was adjourned to tomorrow.
PA
Latest in Sport
Sport blogs
New day (slowly) rising – As Brasileirão gets underway, Brazilian football stumbles, rather than leaps into the future
The average Serie A crowd last year was 13,000 - comparable to Australia’s A-League.
by James Young
24 May 2013 04:31 PM
iBet: Mercedes and Hamilton to roar in Monaco
Monaco is a street circuit where driver ability is more important than anywhere else and if we take ...
by Gareth Purnell
24 May 2013 02:00 AM
On The Road at the Giro d’Italia: It sounds sadistic, but the team live for the mountain stages
Three weeks ago as I drove off the Eurostar, I remember thinking what a very long time it was until ...
by Martin Ayres
23 May 2013 05:29 PM
-
Why Manchester City were willing to fork out $500m on stake in MLS
-
Champions League final: Biggest German invasion since the fifth century as Borussia Dortmund face Bayern Munich
-
Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich: 50 things you should know about the Champions League final
-
Champions League final preview: Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund
-
Champions League Final: Can Jürgen Klopp and Borussia Dortmund stop the Bayern Munich machine?
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Day In a Page
Johnny Marr talks relationships and reunions
In pictures: After the flood
Death becomes her: A very modern mortician
School of chop: Learning the art of butchery
The man who's eaten everywhere
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?


