Soccer: Footballers wait to see if they face retrial over attack

Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer are set to learn whether they will face a retrial over charges of attacking an Asian student.

The nine-week trial of the two footballers and two other men was halted yesterday at Hull Crown Court.

Mr Justice Poole ruled that a Sunday Mirror newspaper interview with the victim's father could have seriously prejudiced the case.

He said that the article which victim Sarfraz Najeib's father Muhammad claimed that the attack on his son was racially motivated should be referred to the Attorney General for contempt of court.

The jury of seven men and four women was discharged by the judge following 39 days of the trial which is believed to have cost £8m.

Prosecuting counsel Nicholas Campbell QC told the judge that a decision had already been made that a new trial would be sought.

He asked for today's hearing to discuss possible dates and venues for a potential retrial.

Mr Justice Poole said that in the article the victim's father had made clear that he rejected the court's direction to the jury that the attack had not been racially motivated.

Mr Najeib, 20, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was kicked and beaten senseless in a street attack in Leeds city centre after a confrontation outside the Majestyk nightclub in January last year.

Former England under-21 captain Bowyer, 24, of Leeds, England international Woodgate, Paul Clifford and Neale Caveney, all 21 and from Middlesbrough, had denied charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and affray.