JOHN Terry tried to talk to Rio Ferdinand to explain himself after his on-pitch bust-up with his brother Anton, a court heard.
The former England skipper was asked why he hadn’t called Ferdinand after he was accused of racially abusing the Manchester United star’s younger brother.
But Terry told the court: “I did call Rio. He wouldn’t take my call.”
Terry was giving evidence during day three of his trial for allegedly calling Anton Ferdinand a “f****** black c***”.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny told him: “You might have got in touch with Mr Ferdinand and said ’Help me out here – this is going completely nuts’.”
Terry replied: “I did attempt to call Rio and he wouldn’t take my call, I didn’t have Anton’s number.”
The 31-year-old defender said he was “keen” to speak to police about the alleged abuse because he knew he’d “not done anything wrong”.
He denies a racially aggravated public order offence, in the clash in October last year saying he was sarcastically repeating the slur that Ferdinand mistakenly thought he had used.
Continuing his evidence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, Terry said: “I knew there was nothing out there that would show that I had done anything wrong.
“I was keen to go forward with my police statement, my FA statement. If I had anything to hide I wouldn’t have done that.”
He said he made a statement before seeing any film footage of the incident.
“If there was ever any doubt in my mind, I could have held back, soaked it up and thought ’Let’s wait until tomorrow, let’s see what kind of footage is out there.”
Terry’s Chelsea and England teammate Ashley Cole told the trial he did not want to be involved after the allegations came to light.
“It was hard because I knew JT, Rio and Anton,” he said.
The left back called Terry “inspirational” and claimed the case should not have come to court.
He said: “I think we shouldn’t be sitting here.”
The trial continues.
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