Soccer: Man United captain cleared of assault

Manchester United captain Roy Keane was yesterday cleared of assaulting a teenager branded by a judge as a "less than satisfactory" witness who was "caught out as a liar".

Earlier, Trafford magistrates' court had been told Keane grabbed the teenager around the neck and swung a punch at him after the boy insulted him. The court was told Keane, a Republic of Ireland international, marched up to the 16-year-old student, who had sworn at him, and took up a position where their foreheads were touching. Keane allegedly "spat" with rage as he demanded, repeatedly: "Did you call me a wanker?"

Keane, 33, had denied a charge of criminal damage. He also denied assault and a public order offence in September last year.

District Judge Paul Richardson said of the student: "It was clear this was a young man who enjoyed the attention that the incident had given him. Given his motive was at the best very questionable, I could not rely on his evidence."

Peter McNaught, prosecuting, said the charges arose after Keane had clashed when the teenager (referred to in court as Boy A) and a friend (Boy B) had been riding their mopeds near Keane's house in Hale, Greater Manchester. Keane was walking his labrador dogs when the boy sounded his horn a number of times, according to McNaught.

As the teenager and his friend passed by, Keane swung out with his walking stick. He did not make contact but the teenager turned round and raised his hand in an offensive gesture towards the footballer, said McNaught.

Keane gestured back and approached Boy A a few weeks later when he spotted him again, wearing the same, distinctive yellow crash helmet. Boy A and Boy B were visiting a house across from the home Keane shares with his wife, Theresa, and five children. Keane, who was in his garden, spotted them and strode over.

The boy saw Keane approach in his moped's mirrors. "I felt a bit like, 'God, what's going to happen now'," the boy told officers.

At first, there was confusion because Keane alluded to a middle finger being raised in the earlier exchange and his accent was difficult to understand. But then Keane said: "Did you call me a wanker? Why did you do that?"'

"Because you nearly hit me; you swung for me with your walking stick," the boy replied. Then Keane allegedly swung a right punch at him and said: "That's nearly hitting you."

Testifying via video-link, the boy told the court: "I felt the hair of his fist against my face. He was saying things like 'I'll hit you in a minute; I will sort you out in a minute'."

Keane, accompanied by United solicitor Maurice Watkins, listened intently as the boy added: "He said 'you had better get out of my face'."

The boy said he walked off and threatened to call the police, but Keane started laughing and grabbed his arm.

"I said, 'I'm definitely phoning the police now', and he laughed and said 'Go on'. I was quite intimidated and shocked. "He said something like, 'come back later and we'll see who's a big, hard man.' It was like he was pushing for a fight."

When Keane had walked off, the boy turned to his friend and said "What a wanker", prompting Keane to reappear.

The youth recalled: "He approached me quite fast, pointing at me and saying: 'Did you call me a wanker?'

"I said, 'I don't know'. He was being pretty scary. He looked quite aggressive, the expression on his face. He was repeating 'did you call me a wanker'

"He had his head right up against mine. He grabbed my shirt and must have caught my chain and was pointing. His forehead was touching mine. I was quite scared. He was spitting all over my face and saying: 'you had better watch it'."

The boy said that when his neck chain fell to the ground, Keane said: "Give it to me, I will get it fixed for you and you can get it back tomorrow".

The footballer suggested he would get the chain welded.

After leaving court, Mr Watkins said on behalf of Keane: "Roy has been here for two days. He co-operated fully with the police inquiries and maintained his innocence throughout. Today Roy has been vindicated and is very relieved that justice has been done."

- INDEPENDENT