Ferdinand hid 'fight' friend name

Anton Ferdinand said he was acting out of loyalty to a friend

Footballer Anton Ferdinand did the "honourable thing" by not naming a friend who may have been involved in a group fight, he told a court.

The West Ham player, 22, denies assault causing actual bodily harm and affray outside an Essex nightclub in 2006.

Police want to talk to an unidentified man in CCTV images of the fight, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

Mr Ferdinand had refused to tell police his friend's name out of "loyalty" but offered to name the man in court.

Mr Ferdinand said on Friday: "At the time, I was doing the honourable thing. At the time, I did not see the CCTV footage. I wanted to keep my friend out of it."

'Standing in way'

Prosecuting, Alex Agbamu asked why he was taking this position even if he might be "effectively standing in the way of the police investigation".

Mr Ferdinand said: "It is loyalty to a friend."

The prosecution did not take up Mr Ferdinand's offer to write the man's name down in court.

Another man, Edward Dawkins, 28, from Beckton, east London, also denies affray and assault causing actual bodily harm to Emile Walker outside Faces nightclub in Ilford in October 2006.

Mr Walker, 23, previously told the court that Mr Ferdinand struck him before he was punched and kicked to the ground by up to 10 men.

He fled with a bruised jaw and a cut on his forehead. The trial continues.