Keane 'grabbed boy by neck'

Manchester United captain Roy Keane grabbed a frightened teenager around the neck and shouted in his face after the youth called him a "w****r", a court heard today.

The Irish midfielder also swung a punch at the 16-year-old, his fist stopping just before his face. They clashed after the student had been riding his moped with a friend near Keane's £1.4 million home in Hale, Greater Manchester.

Keane, 33, had been walking his dogs nearby when the boy beeped his horn to acknowledge the star, Trafford magistrates' court heard. As the teenager and his friend passed the footballer Keane swung out with his walking stick. The teenager drove past and turned round to make a "wanker" gesture towards Keane.

A few weeks later the youngster was on his moped again with a friend visiting a house across the road from Keane's home, the court heard. The footballer was in his garden but came over to the pair.

The court was shown a video recording of an interview the boy gave to police after the second incident.

He told officers he was sitting on his bike when he noticed Keane walking towards him.

"I felt a bit like, 'God, what's going to happen now', the boy told officers. "Then he said, 'Did you call me a w****r? Why did you do that ?"'

The teenager said he replied: "Because you nearly hit me; you swung for me with your walking stick. He walked up to me and I'm not sure what he said next; he was being a bit aggressive.

"The next thing he did was swing at my face with his right fist. He said, 'That's nearly hitting you'. I flinched backwards." Keane denies a charge of criminal damage after snapping the boy's silver chain.

He also denies assault and a public order offence on 4 September last year.

After Keane swung the punch "within touching distance" of the boy's face, the teenager walked away, threatening to call the police. "He just started laughing," the teenager told the court.

The boy told the court that after his chain fell to the ground Keane seemed to calm down and back off.

The teenager added: "He said 'Give it to me, I will get it fixed for you and you can get it back tomorrow'."

The trial is expected to last two days.