Racism was not a motive when an
Asian student was battered unconscious 14 months ago, the judge in the trial of Leeds United footballers Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer said today.
The jury faced with deciding the fate of Woodgate, Bowyer and two of Woodgate's friends should not take the victim's race into account, judge David Poole said as he began his closing speech at the end of a seven-week trial.
Neither should the players' fame and skill on the football pitch sway the jury, he said.
Poole said the prosecution had made clear that group loyalties not racism triggered the attack on Sarfraz Najeib in Leeds city centre in January 2000 after the victim hit out at one of Woodgate's drunken friends.
He said the jury should concentrate on the evidence and the beating Najeib received. The judge will continue his summing-up on Monday.
Woodgate, Bowyer, Paul Clifford and Neale Caveney face jail if found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and affray. They deny the charges.
Earlier the lawyer for another Leeds player, Michael Duberry, said he would be abused by soccer fans and called a "grass" for revealing Woodgate's part in the attack.