Maguire faces 2-year wait to clear name after Greek assault
MANCHESTER United captain Harry Maguire may face a two-year wait for a Greek court date after he appealed against his assault conviction.
A prosecutor in his case warned yesterday that Greek appeals involve a full retrial and it could take that long to get a hearing.
But he said the 27-year-old could have his conviction quashed if he apologised.
a panel of judges gave the england defender a 21-month suspended jail term on Tuesday after convicting him of abusing and attacking police during a drunken night out on the holiday isle of Mykonos.
The £190,000-a-week player and his brother Joe also tried to bribe their way out of trouble, the court ruled.
The defender has now been dropped by england but his club said they would stand by him pending his appeal. Manchester United maintains that because the appeal is now in the Greek legal system, his
Drugging claim: Harry Maguire and sister Daisy conviction is null and void. ‘The filing of an appeal extinguishes the initial court verdict and nullifies the conviction,’ it said in a statement.
‘This means that Harry has no criminal record and is once again presumed innocent until proven guilty. accordingly, he is not subject to any international travel restrictions.’
This was disputed by athens legal expert stavroula Tomara, who said: ‘Until [the appeal], the conviction will hang over Maguire’s head.’
Greek prosecutor Dr Yoannis Paradissis said that if Maguire admitted the attack and apologised his conviction might be quashed. But his brother Laurence tweeted yesterday: ‘absolute no chance Harry will be apologising.’
The Maguire party insist they were the victims of the brawl. Dr Paradissis retorted: ‘How can you be a victim and the policemen that have been assaulted and hit, that were just doing their job, went home on the day with injuries? We don’t have the same definition of what a victim is.’
Maguire, brother Joe, 28, and friend Christopher sharman, 29, were not in court on the island of syros as they were convicted of assault and verbal abuse, with the two Maguires also found guilty of offering bribes.
It was claimed that Maguire told the police: ‘I am the captain of Manchester United. I am very rich. I can give you money.’
The player’s legal team told the court that his nine-strong group had mistaken plainclothes police for troublemakers attacking them.
The lawyers said they had video footage of injuries to the three men but this was not shown in court. It may now form part of the appeal.
The men were on edge, the court heard, after Maguire’s young sister Daisy was allegedly injected with a date-rape drug. But Dr Paradissis told the BBC yesterday: ‘The sister was interviewed by the police and she said nothing about that.’
Had the men turned up in court and said sorry the result may have been different, he said, adding: ‘ The appeal process may take up to two years... so obviously I believe there is still time for the three defendants to say they are sorry. [He] might even see himself and his two other defendants acquitted.
‘even if Maguire says he was not heavily involved in the incident he needs to apologise. That is very important.’
‘No chance Harry will say sorry’