In Brief : Soccer Fans Deny Causing Deaths

BRUSSELS —  In their first defense pleas in the Heysel trial, lawyers for the British supporters claimed today that they were not the direct cause of death and asked for their acquittal.

Twenty-six Liverpool fans are charged with manslaughter in being responsible for the panic and stampede in which 39 people, mostly Italians, lost their lives on May 29, 1985, before the European Cup soccer final between Liverpool and Juventus Turin.

Belgian state police officers, the Brussels mayor, his deputy and Belgian and European soccer federations officials also are being tried for criminal neglect.

Harrie Vanbostraeten, the first defense lawyer to plead, said his client, Michael Barnes, was not seen on the videotapes shown in court attacking the Italian supporters.

The Belgian lawyer said the 24-year-old Briton, about whose guilt the prosecutor himself had expressed doubts, could not be held as the direct cause of the death of the Italian victims.