Manchester United football star Harry Maguire found guilty after bar brawl arrest in Mykonos

Harry Maguire receives suspended sentence for aggravated assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery on Mykonos.

Manchester United's English defender Harry Maguire was charged after a wild brawl during an off-season trip. Picture: Oli Scarff/AFP

The England footballer and Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has been found guilty of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery on the Greek island of Mykonos amid a counter claim of date-rape, police brutality and a feared kidnap attempt.

A Greek court heard dramatic and distinctly different versions of events that occurred around midnight last Thursday when a brawl broke out at the Bonbonierre bar in the Fabrika area of Mykonos, where the footballers were holidaying and partying in the short off-season.

But on Tuesday the court sided with the prosecution and found Maguire, 27, guilty of the three charges, with the $380,000 a week star footballer sentenced to a suspended term of 21 months. His brother Joe Maguire and friend Chris Sharman were handed 13 month suspended sentences.

The verdict was all the more inflammatory given that the England manager Gareth Southgate had only hours earlier defended his “boy” and named him in the England team to play Iceland in the UEFA Nations League fixture next month.

Date rape drug claim

Maguire was not in the court but through his lawyer claimed the incident began when his sister Daisy had eyes rolling back in her head and they suspected she had been injected with a rape drug by two seemingly Albanian men. A family friend of the Maguires, Ashden Morley, told the court that Daisy fainted, causing a commotion and the footballers wanted to take her to hospital but the minivan driver took them instead to the police station.

Mr Morley said: “The van we were in stopped and the door was pulled open by a man. We thought we were either being robbed or kidnapped. Everybody was very scared.”

Kidnap fears ‘a pack of lies’

The footballers feared they might be kidnapped for ransom by the men who followed the minivan and alleged that they didn’t know they were undercover police officers.

England's Harry Maguire, left, eaves a courthouse on the Greek island of Syros, the administrative hub of the Cycladic island group that includes Mykonos, on August 22. Picture: Eurokinissi/AFP

In an ensuing brawl, Maguire’s lawyer said the footballer had been hit by a sharp object on the leg while police shouted they would ruin his career.

But the prosecutor said the footballers’ claims were “a pack of lies”. He said Maguire tried to bribe the police saying: “Do you know who I am? I am the captain of Manchester United. I am very rich. I can give you money. I can pay you. Please let us go.”

Police said they were trying to break up a dispute when one of the three started shouting “F--- the police, F--- Greece” and one policeman was punched in the face.

Another was then pushed onto his back when he attempted to handcuff Maguire, resulting in the officer requiring time off work.

Police ‘brutally beaten’

“The defendants’ actions show an anti-athletic spirit, and insult not only those I represent, but also the Greek police and the Greek republic in total,” said Giannis Paradisis, a lawyer for the Mykonos police.

“Maguire has insulted our police officers and he and his friends left three of them injured. They had to be taken to hospital and were brutally beaten by Maguire, his brother Joe and their friend.

This is crazy... anyone who knows Harry now knows this whole story is fabricated 🙈 https://t.co/5XqotKI0pk

— Laurence Maguire (@_lozmaguire) August 25, 2020

“Maguire and his friends then invented a story about Albanians attacking his sister. I’ve never heard such rubbish. This was a shameful attempt to cover up their disgusting behaviour and an insult to Albanians and the Greek police.

“Maguire is a role model, he should hang his head in shame and return to Greece to apologise.”

But Harry’s younger brother, Laurence immediately tweeted: “This is crazy … anyone who knows Harry now knows this whole story is fabricated.”

Maguire said he would appeal and said: ’I remain strong and confident regarding our innocence in this matter – if anything myself, family and friends are the victims.’