People: Why silence was golden for Fashanu

The former footballer and television presenter John Fashanu, cleared earlier this month of match-rigging charges, yesterday defended his decision to stay silent throughout his trial.

Mr Fashanu, 34, insisted he had been totally vindicated by the outcome of the trial and that "no shred of evidence" had been produced against him. But he refused to explain why he had opened a bank account in someone else's name and why money had supposedly been paid into other people's accounts on his behalf.

He said he did not accept that the trial judge's decision to order him to pay his estimated pounds 650,000 costs implied any shadow of guilt on his part. He insisted: "The verdict has already stated categorically that I'm not guilty and the fact that I intend to appeal against having to pay the costs underlines that even more."