Lee Bowyer has been found "not guilty" on all counts.

Woodgate guilty of "affray" - could go down for 6-12 months.

One of their mates found guilty of GBH & affray.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Answers

Sentence will be interesting. Affray is v. serious but is there a chance of a suspended sentence? (i.e. hanged!)

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Shit I can't stand Bowyer....would've loved him to have gone down....I was even saving up for a soap on a string as a xmas present for him...

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Pah! So, will Leeds now get rid of Woodgate? Didn't Ridsdale say something about that before???

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

who kicked the student in then?

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

He did it himself?

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

According to My Auntie, Jonathan WOODGATE: GBH: NOT GUILTY; AFFRAY: GUILTY Paul CLIFFORD: GBH: GUILTY; AFFRAY: GUILTY Neale CAVENEY: GBH: NOT GUILTY; AFFRAY: GUILTY Lee BOWYER: GBH: NOT GUILTY; AFFRAY: NOT GUILTY

Call me a cynic, but why do the words fall and guy come to mind? Anybody know the relative appearances for reserves/first team??

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

5Live reckon Mr. Grimsdale (;-{)) said he would sack any players found guilty of GBH.

So, it's all perfectly OK then!! Tossers - all of 'em.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

100 hrs Community service for Woodie woodpecker....6 years for the GBH bloke....big fucking difference there eh?

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Apparently Woodgate is getting away with community service. Why am I nor surprised.......

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

community service for affray?? jammy bastard.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Double standards in sentencing, I reckon. Remember that doctor who kicked in a London Underground member of staff, found guilty of ABH and given a suspended sentence because of his 'contribution in society'. F**king disgrace.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

I am stunned by Woodgate's sentence in relation to the rest who were found guilty. 100 hours community service is sooooooooooooo lenient it's incredible. (I know I work for the probation service!) Granted it's not as serious as the GBH but in law, the incident was a 'group enterprise' and given that the Judge gave 6 years for one of them, one would have expected a custodial for Woodgate.

He is a very lucky lad.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

I guess all those witnesses (and team mate) who gave evidence will all be shown the yellow card for trying to get them sent down

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Something smells in the kingdom of Hull today, methinks!

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

How much would 6 years cost? sold their mates down the swanny the toads. If any kid's are watching: it's not big and it's not clever.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Woodgate and Bowyer have been found not guilty of GBH. Had the prosecutor been able to introduce their past records of violent conduct -- in Woodgate's case identical to what occured in Leeds -- I am sure that both would have been jailed. In my opinion two unmitigated thugs have been set free to continue to perpetrate their violence on the football pitch. BTW, things may have altered since my student days but 5 beers and five wines seems far from abstemious as Bowyer seems to claim.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

If the guy had died, would they all have faced a murder charge, or at least manslaughter, on the grounds that those who watched while their mate killed the guy were aiding and abetting ?

If they hadn't wanted him dead, they should have stopped the guy doing the killing.

I can't see that much difference here. If the guy who was beaten up had been able to handle himself better, I'll bet the rest of them wouldn't have stood and watched.

The lot of them should have been treated equally. Bliddy whitewash IMO.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

One thing's for sure, they are both going to get booed off the pitch wherever they play, except of course at Elland Road where they give racists a hero's welcome.

Would it be wise to put Bowyer in the England squad? Talented player. but I suspect the trial will be attached to him for the rest of his life.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Screacher, fall-guy?, Paul Clifford is a wannabee boxer as opposed to footballer, lethal weapon comes to mind.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Aye - sorry Buff. I stand corrected. I forgot the other Leeds player(s) were released without charge a while ago. Professional boxer, is he? Probably his biggest payoff for a long time.

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2001

Held off reacting on Woodgates sentence until I calmed down a bit. 100 hours of community service is a PITIFUL sentence. Why was the jury ordered not to look at the attack as racially motivated when at least one senior policemen though it was? A shambles.

-- Anonymous, December 15, 2001

Were the other incidents that Woodgate has been involved in racially motivated or is he just an out and out thug?

One thing for sure - there won't be a jury in the land who won't know his previous "form" next time he gets done - and it looks likely he will because he seems to make a habit of it.

Agree with Floridian about the alcohol consumption. Bowyer's abstemious intake would keep me going for at least a week! But I'm just a big (sorry little) girl's blouse.

-- Anonymous, December 15, 2001

I think the victim in Woodgate's previous incident was also Asian though obviously that doesn't necessarily mean it was racially motivated. Seems a bit of a coincidence though.....

-- Anonymous, December 15, 2001

Not in Leeds it isn't.

-- Anonymous, December 17, 2001

I have not time for such thuggery, but just 'cos the lad was Asian doesn't mean it was racially aggravated. The CPS are happy to push that element if any racist comments are alleged in an attack. Didn't the victim lamp one of the group 1st, which is why they all went after him? Not justifying what happened to him, but shouldn't he have been at least cautioned for common assault?

-- Anonymous, December 17, 2001

Nick, you don't think it's a bit of a coincidence that he's got 2 violent assaults to his name and they were both non-whites? There are lots of Asians in Leeds but not so many that it shouldn't raise eyebrows if someone is involved in assaults on two in a row.

Also, not exactly sure about the legalities of the situation, but might it be the case that a racial attack is harder to prove & the prosecution chose to go with "just" GBH? Any legal eagles got a view on that?

As far as cautioning the victim goes, I think it's reasonable to say that no matter what he did to provoke the attack, being beaten to within an inch of his life is more than punishment enough.

-- Anonymous, December 17, 2001

dodgy, i hate the way the press have made heroes of them

-- Anonymous, December 17, 2001

I think the racial element need only be the alleged use of a racist remark immediately before, during or immediately after the assault. This can even be 'immigrant bas**rd' - although if both were known to be true (i.e the victim was an immigrant and of illegitimate birth) during the attack, I don't know what would happen.

-- Anonymous, December 17, 2001