Leeds United footballer
Lee Bowyer repeatedly denied today he was involved in a savage attack on an Asian student and said he had had no contact with the student's brother whose blood was found on his jacket.
Bowyer (24) told the court in northern England he never entered a street called Mill Hill in Leeds where prosecutors say Bowyer, Leeds defender Jonathan Woodgate and a group of men knocked Sarfraz Najeib unconscious in January 2000.
"I never went into Mill Hill at all at any stage," the midfielder said five or six times. "I was not at any point involved in any trouble that evening."
Earlier in the case forensic expert Mark Bates had pointed out a smear of blood on the cuff of Bowyer's designer leather jacket which he said matched the blood of Shahzad Najeib, the brother of the victim.
When asked by his lawyer Desmond de Silva whether there was any chance he came into direct contact with Shahzad, Bowyer said: "No. I never came into contact with him."
He said he had "no idea whatsoever" how the blood stain had got on to his jacket.
Bowyer, Woodgate and two of their friends face jail if they are found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and affray. They deny the charges.
Prosecutors have said Woodgate and Bowyer arrived at the scene of the attack after Najeib, then aged 19, had been smashed against a dustbin and joined in kicking him as he lay senseless on the street.