Rio gives evidence in alleged rape case

MANCHESTER United football star Rio Ferdinand yesterday denied he got a man to “fix” girls for him at a nightclub and that he was warned

The England defender, who was giving evidence at the trial of another man accused of attempted rape, agreed he was spoken to by bouncers at a Leeds nightclub in January last year and that he was told to ‘chill out’.

He also admitted he and his then team-mate Michael Duberry accepted a lift from a man called Reds he knew from the nightclub to a Leeds hotel along with two girls.

Mr Ferdinand told Leeds Crown Court he and Mr Duberry drank champagne at the hotel in the early hours of the morning but denied the girls were with him.

Asked by prosecutor Richard Newberry: “Reds was getting these girls for you, wasn’t he?”

The player replied: “No. Not at all.”

Mr Ferdinand, who was wearing a dark suit, white shirt and black tie, was giving evidence in the defence of 33-year-old Martin Luther King, of Montague Crescent, Oakwood, Leeds, who denies attempting to rape a 22-year-old woman, indecently assaulting and kidnapping her.

The alleged victim has told the court she was abducted after leaving the Hi Fi Club in Leeds city centre and driven to a lane in the city where she was assaulted by Mr King, who produced a gun.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also told the court, while she was in the club, Mr Duberry pushed his hand up her skirt and she slapped him.

She said Mr Ferdinand then threatened her, saying: “If I don’t slap you up I’ll get someone else to.”

Mr Ferdinand said he had never met the woman.

Mr Ferdinand, who spoke in a hushed voice throughout his 90 minute court appearance and was asked to speak up, agreed he had been interviewed by the police about the alleged incident in the Hi Fi Club but had never been charged.

Judge Scott Wolstenholme warned him after he was sworn-in that he could refuse to answer any question he thought might incriminate him.

Under cross examination from Mr Newberry, the player told the court his night out began with meal at the 42 The Calls restaurant in Leeds with Mr Duberry.

He said the pair then went on to another bar and the Revolution club before ending up at the Hi Fi club.

Mr Ferdinand said he had been drinking wine, vodka with Red Bull and Baileys but he could not remember exactly how much.