March 13, 2001

March 13, 2001 (Tuesday) from Yahoo!

Bowyer blames "whack" on head

By Rebecca Harrison

HULL, England (Reuters) - Leeds United footballer Lee Bowyer said he could not remember anything after he was hit on the head on the night an Asian student was savagely assaulted.

Bowyer also said he had had no contact with the brother of student Sarfraz Najeib whose blood was found on his jacket.

The 24-year-old 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 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 19, had been smashed against a dustbin and joined in kicking him as he lay senseless on the street.

WHACK ON THE HEAD

On Monday, his first day of evidence, Bowyer said he was running to catch up with his group of friends when someone had struck him after leaving a night club.

On Tuesday, Bowyer said he then fell over and "my head bounced off the floor when I took the whack and that is when I can't really remember anything after".

The next thing he said he remembered was seeing Woodgate and his friends coming out of the street where the attack was alleged to have taken place.

Bowyer said witnesses, who earlier said they saw him run into Mill Hill and then kick Najeib, were wrong.

Witnesses said they had seen a six-foot man they later identified as Bowyer join in the "horrific" attack.

But Bowyer said this was "rubbish" because he was five foot nine and did not match the description.

"It's obvious they were mistaken," said Bowyer.

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