Retrial of Leeds footballers begins

Two Leeds United footballers appeared at Hull Crown Court yesterday to face a retrial on charges of assaulting an Asian student.Lee Bowyer, 24, and Jonathan Woodgate, 21,deny charges of affray and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Sarfraz Najeib, 21, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire.The jury in the footballers' first trial was discharged earlier this year after the publication of an article in the Sunday Mirror on 8 April.

Paul Clifford, 22, and Neale Caveney, 22, both from Middlesbrough, also pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and affray. Mr Najeib suffered serious injuries in an alleged attack in Mill Hill, Leeds, in January 2000. The case continues.