Lions rugby star Ferris in court

21 June 2011 Last updated at 13:51 GMT Stephen Ferris played for the British and Irish Lions on their 2009 tour to South Africa British and Irish Lions rugby international, Stephen Ferris, has denied assaulting two men in Belfast city centre.

His older brother, David Ferris, admitted assaulting one of the alleged victims on 27 September 2009.

Both men have an address at Chestnut Hall Avenue in Moira, County Down.

A trial date has been set for the last week in November. Both men were released on continuing bail.

Stephen Ferris, 25, pleaded not guilty to one charge of causing actual bodily harm to Colm Conlon and one of common assault on James McGinley.

His older David Ferris, 28, pleaded guilty to causing Mr Conlon actual bodily harm on the same date.

Defence QC Liam McCollum, appearing for both Ferris brothers, said there was no issue whether David Ferris was dealt with before the trial of his brother.

He added however that the winger will be in New Zealand "over September and October and he has serious commitments in November".

Setting a trial date for the last week in November, Judge Geoffrey Millar QC released both men on continuing bail and ordered pre-sentence probation reports for David Ferris.

Stephen Ferris has played 24 times for Ireland and received his first cap in November 2006.

The Ulster player was part of the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 2009 but had to withdraw prematurely after sufferring injury.

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Rugby star Cohen on US gay tour

27 May 2011 Last updated at 15:42 GMT Queues of fans waited for a moment with Cohen England rugby star Ben Cohen is using his huge gay following in the US to highlight his campaign against homophobic bullying.

The married World Cup winner, recently retired, is visiting four cities in two weeks to promote his StandUp charity.

Hundreds of men have flocked to his fundraising events, organised with the help of gay-friendly rugby clubs.

Sport and sexuality is being hotly debated in the US after two basketball players were fined for saying "faggot".

Joakim Noah received a $50,000 (?30,400) penalty for directing the slur at a fan, while Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 (?60,800) for a similar outburst in April.

"It sends out the wrong message - that it's fine to call people names," Cohen said as the tour's third leg in Washington DC ended.

While a rugby World Cup winner has little currency in the US, the father of twins does have a profile in the American gay community.

His Facebook page has 150,000 fans, many of whom are men living in the US.

It was some of their stories of prejudice and isolation - leading to suicidal thoughts in some cases - that drew him to this issue a few years ago.

"People were sending us e-mails and it came with a sense of responsibility," he said.

Cohen finished his career with Sale Sharks

"I might be straight but I understand the mental scarring you can suffer from people being bullied and a tragedy happening."

In 2000, Cohen's father died after being beaten when he stepped in to protect one of his employees in a dispute.

"We are trying to stop bullying across the board but especially in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community."

Sport should tackle homophobia in the same way that football tackled racism, Cohen said, with tough penalties for offenders.

The US trip has included educational visits and rugby coaching sessions at schools and universities.

And the job of raising awareness and money has focused on gay nightclubs and the media, even including an appearance on a reality TV show.

The so-called Acceptance Tour began in April in the UK.

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