This was always going to be the outcome. The fact it was delayed and delayed, I'd have put money on it. Think of the consequences had he have been found guilty!
IMO I don't think JT is a racist but the balance of probability is he was so wound up that he made the racist remark of which he was accused. There's a lot going on in a football match, a lot being said, much of it drowned out by the surrounding noise. Therefore, I am not at all surprised that there was reasonable doubt over who said what to whom and the verdict was not guilty. Ferdinand was largely the innocent party in all this: he didn't bring the case and he didn't want it brought to court. Nevertheless, along with JT, he engaged in some pretty horrible sledging and I wouldn't be surprised if both of them received a short ban for bringing the game into disrepute.
The verdict is a disappointment. However having read the entire judgment, it is a call that the Judge was entitled to make on the evidence. As soon as he found that all three, Anton, Terry and Cole were credible witnesses, the only decision he could have come to was to find JT not guilty. None of us were there and cannot therefore make an honest judgment which disagrees with the Judge's assessment of the evidence. The only point I have some difficulty with is that he gave Terry credit for being consistent throughout. That to me made it likelier that he was merely reciting and sticking to a script prepared for him. However, I was not there and did not hear him being cross-examined. He may have come over well because he is a good liar or because he was telling the truth as he saw it. the judge clearly gave him the benefit of the doubt. Stan had the right idea about getting the protagonists to accept the verdict publicly. Time also to put one final matter to bed. Once the matter has been investigated, it is in the hands of the CPS and no one else to decide whether there should be a prosecution. I am surprised to say the least that they did so on the basis only of Anton's evidence and that of the lip reading expert. At the time, I am sure I recall that there were other witnesses who had heard what was said but for some reason they were not called. However this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, when the CPS' judgment is called into question.
Whom are calling it into question though? The same cackling idiots who worked themselves into a frenzy over this non-event. They're so nauseating.
Never thought I'd say this but you guys have reasoned thoughts on the subject, unlike some other boards I could mention. We didn't have the facts and evidence that the court had and so weren't able to make a decision. We only have our opinions. Whether people feel that JT was guilty or not, he has been cleared of the charge. I bear no malice to Anton as I feel that he was rather bullied into the court case by other people. We'll just have to wait and see the outcome of the FA enquiry.
Cheers mate although I don't think anyone can be "bullied into a court case". It should never have come to that. To be honest, the "reasoned thoughts" you mention have only really come to the fore in the last few days. Emotion and mis-placed loyalties were the order of the day since the story broke. I must say though, John Terry is a right prat.
Yeah fair shout. He wouldn't be someone I'd mix with socially as he is a prat. Good luck for the season.
