In court with the (ex?)-England captain

Chelsea and former-England captain John Terry was, today, found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence at Westminster Magistrates Court. As many will be aware, on Sunday 23rd October 2011, Terry was seen, on camera, mouthing the words “fucking black cunt”, in the direction of QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

This week I sat through the entirety of Terry’s trial, from start to finish, and drew my own assessments of both the case of Terry, and the Crown Prosecution Service. From that day in October, Terry has been vilified and attacked for his alleged use of racist language on the pitch. It only takes a quick search of Twitter to pull up claims, posted during this week’s court case, of Terry’s outright guilt in the case – for example:

@WheeLer_AFC: John Terry says he was being SARCASTIC when he called Anton Ferdinand a “f*cking black c*nt.” I’ve heard it all now. What a joke of a man.

Terry, of course, has been almost universally disliked amongst football fans for years. His position as ‘Mr. Chelsea’, a club disliked by many, did little to help that, nor did his alleged extra-marital affair with Vanessa Peronccel, ex-fiance of former Chelsea and England teammate, Wayne Bridge. Couple that with allegations of common theft and drug dealing targeted at both of his parents; Terry, it could be said, is an unpopular figure in the public eye.

This week, however, sitting through his court case, I was impressed with his behaviour and the way in which he went about himself, ignoring of course his “Please, Please, Please, Please” gaffe. Unlike Anton Ferdinand, whose body language was sketchy at the best of times, and Ashley Cole, who, despite giving valuable evidence, seemed to only remember bits and pieces of the day due to the fact that he was, “looking forward to going on a night out”, Terry was succinct in his answers and calm and collected throughout.

It’s difficult to envy the job of Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle – much of the evidence provided failed to give a complete account of Terry’s words, and also failed to catch any of Ferdinand’s. That, in addition to the poor accuracy of lip-reading in this situation, which was described by experts as “an art, not a science”, made the case incredibly difficult to judge. After watching countless clips multiple times and listening to evidence from both Terry, Ferdinand and Cole in person and in full, I would still struggle to decide whether Terry’s words were said in either an accusatory or responsive manner.

His ultimate decision of announcing Terry as a man free to walk away from the charges discredits Ferdinand’s claims and in turn throws up questions about his own credibility following a series of statements that lacked consistency with other witnesses, and we’re often provided in odd circumstances. Defence lawyer Carter-Stephenson QC called into question Ferdinand’s character but it was ultimately recognised that Ferdinand was credible by Howard Riddle.

So, where does Terry go from here? Despite his innocence being proved, this incident is still likely to be one that follows Terry around for the rest of his career. Opposition fans will use this case as yet another string to their huge bow with which they attack Terry from the stands. He already says he receives abuse regarding his alleged affair “every week”, and this will most likely be the same. Chants such as that heard outside the court after Day 3 of the trial, “John Terry, we know what you said”, will no doubt be repeated at football grounds across England.

Regarding his position for club and country, Terry will of course not be sacked by Chelsea, whose chairman Bruce Buck sat through the entire proceedings, and gave evidence at the trial, this week. For England though, the situation is more interesting. Having been stripped of the captaincy during this trial whilst Fabio Capello was still manager, now that he is a free man will Terry regain the captaincy under Roy Hodgson? Of course, that ignores the fact that Terry may even be dropped from the side completely. Despite being one of England’s best players at Euro 2012, Terry is the wrong side of 30 and could find himself on the scrapheap with Rio Ferdinand by the time the next World Cup comes around.

Of course, still hanging over his head is the charge from The FA regarding the same incident, although despite their differing procedures, you would expect that, following this trial, the governing body will find a similar verdict. Ultimately, this was a trial that has cost the public a lot of money, whilst at the same time extending an issue that should have been dealt with by the referee. Questions must be asked about Chris Foy, who was not called to court to explain his position on the issue.

Racism is a serious issue, which, in ways, is recognised by the magnitude of this case, as well as that of Luis Suarez. This case doesn’t discredit that. Rather, it proves that it is of importance for us to punish racism, but at the same time approach with caution. Terry walks free as “it’s possible” that his words were “not intended as an insult, but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him.”

Racism takes a huge position in media today, and with it still as a problem, perhaps rightly so, but on this occasion, the right decision was reached. Many people will draw their own conclusions, as shown on Twitter today – but ultimately the only decision that matters is of Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle.