Soccer: Beaten Asian denies selling story about Leeds players

The Asian victim of an alleged attack involving three Leeds United footballers has denied selling his story to any newspaper.

Cross-examined by David Sumner, for Leeds defender Jonathan Woodgate, Sarfraz Najeib denied making arrangements to sell his version of events.

Hull Crown Court has heard Mr Najeib add a newspaper may have approached his father with a view to his story being sold.

Mr Najeib said in the Majestyk night club in Leeds he saw a group of men who were drinking. He said he was not interested in football himself, but one of his friends had pointed out one of the men and said it was Jonathan Woodgate.

Mr Najeib said he was later able to give a description of the man, and had described him as wearing a thigh-length black leather jacket.

The man had had a bottle of champagne in one hand and a glass in the other.

He later saw the group outside the nightclub and had identified the same man in the black leather jacket as Jonathan Woodgate, and as being among the group.

Bowyer, 24, of Leeds, Woodgate, 21, of Middlesbrough, and Tony Hackworth 20, of Leeds, all deny causing Mr Najeib, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, grievous bodily harm with intent. They also deny affray.

Two other men, Paul Clifford, 21, of Middlesbrough and Neale Caveney, 21, of Middlesbrough, also deny causing grievous bodily harm and affray.

Woodgate, Caveney and Clifford, together with Leeds United player Michael Duberry, 24, of Leeds, also deny conspiring to pervert the course of justice.