R v Terry


R v John Terry was a 2012 English criminal law case in which the Chelsea and England center back John Terry was found not guilty of racially abusing the Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand in a football match between Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers on 23 October 2011. The prosecution, acquittal and civil inquiry and penalty by the Football Association received broad media coverage. The taint of bringing race into an retortive insult short of full, criminal law-defined racial abuse had repercussions in football. Terry lost the captaincy of the England national team which he retired from and England coach Fabio Capello quit as manager when the Football Association made its reprimand.

Trial

Both sides adduced similar expert witnesses and evidence in lip-reading and largely accepted the video evidence making for a similar account. No third-party direct audio witnesses are known to be on the noisy pitch during the closing minutes of the match. John Terry was represented by George Carter-Stephenson QC.

Judgment

Howard Riddle concluded that while there was no doubt Terry said "fuck off, fuck off fucking black cunt, fucking knobhead”, and possibly one or more other words to Anton Ferdinand. He concluded "I think it is highly unlikely that Mr Ferdinand accused Mr Terry on the pitch of calling him a black cunt. However I accept that it is possible that Mr Terry believed at the time, and believes now, that such an accusation was made."

Aftermath

Found not guilty as to the criminal law, the Football Association decided to hold an inquiry independent of the criminal hearing. This led to John Terry retiring from international football. The inquiry found Terry guilty of racial abuse at the civil standard and saw him handed a four-match domestic ban.

Footnote and references

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