March 12, 2001

March 12, 2001 (Monday) from Yahoo!

Bowyer denies he was at scene of Asian student's beating

By Rebecca Harrison

HULL, England (Reuters) - Leeds United footballer Lee Bowyer told a court today that he was not at the scene of a vicious attack on an Asian student.

Bowyer, 24, said he did not go into the street where prosecutors say he, Leeds defender Jonathan Woodgate and a group of men knocked Sarfraz Najeib unconscious in January 2000.

"I was not on Mill Hill at any stage," midfielder Bowyer said. 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.

Bowyer said he had followed Woodgate and a group of friends from a nightclub in central Leeds, northern England, because he thought they were going to a lap-dancing club.

"I thought they had gone without me." He said he was not aware of any trouble between Woodgate and his friends, and a group of Asians outside the club.

He said he had not chased the Asians and that they were about "the length of a football pitch" ahead of him.

Bowyer, who said he did not usually drink heavily, said he had drunk five to six glasses of wine and at least one cocktail on the night of January 11/12, 2000.

"I was tipsy, I wasn't hammered," he said. As he ran to catch up with the group, Bowyer said he overtook someone who looked like Woodgate.

He said he fell over in the street, then someone struck him as he tried to get up.

"As I tried to get myself together, I was on all fours and I got a whack on the right-hand side of my face."

"DAZED"

"My head hit the floor, I was dazed." When he had picked himself up he saw a group of five or six of Woodgate's friends come out of the street - Mill Hill - where prosecutors say the attack took place, and brush past him.

Then he saw Woodgate come out of Mill Hill jogging, and Bowyer said he ran to catch up with him.

Prosecutors have said Woodgate and Bowyer arrived at the scene of the attack after Najeib, then 19, had been smashed against a dustbin and joined in kicking him as he lay senseless on the street.

A witness said he saw Woodgate jump on Najeib with both feet. Woodgate said last week he followed his friends after they had chased Najeib because he was "being nosey" but said he fell over and was not involved in the attack.

Bowyer said that after he rejoined Woodgate and his friends, he went back to the nightclub alone. He said he could not remember a victory hug between him and co-defendant Neil Caveney that prosecutors said video footage showed.

But he said it must have been him on the video because forensic evidence had shown his jacket was stained with Caveney's blood.

Bowyer said his team mate Michael Bridges took him home later that night and that his girlfriend Michelle "went mad" because he was drunk.

SHOES

Prosecutors have said the group lied to police to help cover up their part in the attack. They said Bowyer and Woodgate misled police by giving them different shoes from the ones video footage showed they were wearing on the night.

Bowyer said they were the same shoes but looked different because he had since cleaned them.

"They were duller on the night. I tried to get away with not cleaning my shoes," he said.

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