Chelsea captain Terry found not guilty of racism charges

London: Chelsea captain John Terry has been found not guilty of racially abusing QPR centre-back Anton Ferdinand, following a five-day trial at Westminster Magistrates` Court.

Delivering the verdict Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle said he would not read the whole judgement as it would take too long, but would summarise the main points. He began by telling the court: “The issue for the court is not to decide whether Mr Terry is a racist - I have received unchallenged evidence he is not. “The issue is whether Mr Terry uttered the words as an insult.“ However, the judge then went on to add that: “The only verdict the court can record is Not Guilty “Even with all the help received, it is impossible to be sure exactly what were the words spoken by John Terry at the relevant time “It is a crucial fact that nobody has given evidence about what Mr Terry said or how he said it.” The Chief Magistrate went on to described Ferdinand as “brave” to give evidence and added that: “Overall I found Anton Ferdinand to be a believable witness on the central issue.” Goal.com