Sylvain Distin: "It is as if I did not want to come, that I have been hiding. But it is not at all like that. Former Toon Defender Should Have Been Locked Up!
Sylvain Distin: "It is as if I did not want to come, that I have been hiding. But it is not at all like that. "I gave a statement and there were something like 25 players there, so there were 25 players who saw what happened.
"I was not afraid to say what I saw.
"I did not understand that I had to go to court if I was told. When I realised I had to go to court I was already abroad and with my girlfriend and newborn baby and could not leave them alone.
"I tried to organise something to do it by video conference, but it was a bit too late."
Distin was fined £2,000 for failing to attend the aborted assault trial of former team-mate Joey Barton, also ordered to pay £982.95 prosecution costs and told to pay his fine within 14 days or face 30 days' imprisonment.
Distin, 30, ignored a hand-delivered summons to appear in court and flew to Crete for a holiday with his family days before the hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on June 30.
Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told Distin his non-appearance would have halted the case if Barton had not changed his plea to guilty and a custodial sentence could have followed.
Appearing in the witness box, Distin told the judge he did not understand what a summons was because he had never been arrested or appeared before a court.
Judge Khokhar said however that there could have been no misunderstanding when he received the notice from a police constable at his home in Poole, Dorset, on May 11.
Distin told the media BEFORE the court case: "There is no way I will give up a holiday to go to court!"