LONDON -- Chelsea captain John Terry staunchly defended himself on the witness stand Tuesday, denying prosecutors' suggestions that he racially abused a black opponent as an "instinctive" reaction to being taunted over his private life.
The veteran defender also refused to apologize to Anton Ferdinand as he took the stand on the second day of his trial for an alleged racist slur hurled at the Queens Park Rangers player last October, which led to Terry being stripped of the England captaincy.Terry and Ferdinand had traded insults after a disputed penalty call in the west London derby, with the Chelsea star claiming he was goaded about an alleged affair with the former girlfriend of an ex-teammate.
"The truth of the matter is you are not a racist ... you used racial language that day because you snapped and it was instinctive," prosecutor Duncan Penny suggested to Terry. "You were fed up with people abusing you over the issue with your wife."
Terry, however, responded: "It was almost two years on and I had heard it a million times before."
"If I was going to snap, I would have snapped long before," he said.
The alleged affair led to Terry being stripped of the England captaincy by coach Fabio Capello ahead of the 2010 World Cup. Capello then restored Terry as captain but quit in February when the Football Association took away the armband from the defender against the Italian coach's wishes.
In Westminster Magistrates' Court, Terry hardly resembled the commanding figure seen just two weeks ago on the field at the European Championship, where his orders boomed from the heart of England's defense.
Terry's voice was reduced to almost a whisper Tuesday, standing with his hands clasped in front of him while being quizzed by Penny as video footage of the alleged incident was replayed on screens in the court room.
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