Terry cleared of Ferdinand racism

The Chelsea captain, who had denied calling Ferdinand a "fucking black cunt", was found not guilty at Westminster magistrates court following a five-day trial.

His head dropped as the verdict was given and relatives in the public gallery cheered. Outside the central London court there were more cheers and some heckling from a crowd as Terry - who had faced a maximum £2,500 fine but immeasurable damage to career and reputation if convicted - left in a taxi, making no comment.

His lawyer, Dan Morrison, said Terry had "consistently explained his position to the FA, the police and to the court. He did not racially abuse Mr Ferdinand and the court has accepted this."

Terry had denied a racially aggravated public order offence and making the comments during a heated altercation with the QPR defender Ferdinand, 27, following a penalty appeal in the final minutes of a west London derby between the teams at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011.

His case was that he was sarcastically repeating back words that he believed the QPR player had accused him of saying in an argument following a gesture made by Ferdinand.

Delivering his judgment, chief magistrate Howard Riddle said: "Weighing all the evidence together, I think it is highly unlikely that Mr Ferdinand accused Mr Terry on the pitch of calling him a black cunt. However I accept that it is possible that Mr Terry believed at the time, and believes now, that such an accusation was made, Kazinform has learnt from the Guardian.

"It is therefore possible that what he said was not intended as an insult, but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him. In those circumstances, there being a doubt, the only verdict the court can record is one of not guilty."

Riddle said there was no doubt that Terry had uttered the words when he was angry. But it was crucial that nobody gave evidence that they had heard what Terry had said - "or more importantly how he said it" - and "nobody has been able to show that he is lying". He found Terry "a credible witness".

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