Harry Maguire: Man Utd captain found guilty of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery in Greece
Written by News on 25/08/2020
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has been found guilty of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and repeated bribery attempts in Greece.
The England footballer, 27, was convicted of all the charges against him by a court on the island of Syros.
He was arrested with his brother and a friend after a fight broke out while he was on holiday in Mykonos over claims his sister was injected with a suspected “rape drug”.
The court had been asked to postpone proceedings over the incident, which happened last Thursday during a family getaway.
But the trial went ahead in the absence of all three defendants – Maguire, his brother Joe and their friend Christopher Sharman.
Speaking after the verdict, Yoannis Paradissis, the lawyer who assisted the prosecution, told Sky News the victims are still waiting for an apology.
He said: “When you’re a sportsman and a role model you have to accept what you’ve done and say sorry.
“Until today, we haven’t had that – they have said it’s all the fault of the policeman.
“This was not accepted by the court. The victims and the policeman were assaulted. The only thing they want is an apology.”
He said the victims were “totally appalled” by Maguire and his co-defendants’ behaviour.
Today before the verdict, England manager Gareth Southgate named the 27-year-old for the squad that will face Iceland and Denmark in the Nations League.
Maguire’s lawyer Alexis Anagnostakis previously told the court that two Albanian men had approached his sister Daisy and gave her an unknown substance, which made her faint instantly.
Ashden Morley, a friend of the footballer’s since childhood, said his fiancee Fern Hawkins had noticed that Daisy’s eyes were rolling back in her head at about midnight.
The group suspected two Albanian men had injected her with a rape drug, Mr Morley told the court.
Plain clothes police officers intervened to try to calm the situation when one of the defendants said “f***, f*** the police” and an officer was punched, prosecutors told the trial.
It was alleged that once Maguire arrived at the police station, he said: “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.”
But Mr Anagnostakis told the hearing that at the station, Maguire was kicked in the leg by officers who told him: “Your career is over.”
Maguire pleaded not guilty to all three charges and spent two nights in custody after he was arrested.
(c) Sky News 2020: Harry Maguire: Man Utd captain found guilty of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery in Greece
