SHAMED MAGUIRE RETRIAL
Greece ‘brawl’ star gets appeal
HARRY Maguire is to have a retrial after he appealed against his convictions for assault and bribery.
Family say the England footballer will not apologise to police who claimed they were assaulted on the Greek island of Mykonos on Friday. Under Greek law, the appeal means his conviction has been nullified as he awaits a retrial, which may be two years away. He appealed yesterday, less than 24 hours after he was found guilty and handed a 21-month suspended jail sentence.
Prosecutors have urged Maguire to say sorry to officers who alleged they were assaulted.
But his brother Laurence, 23, said:
“No chance Harry will be apologising.”
Manchester United skipper Maguire, 27, had been convicted of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery, violence against public employees and insult. He and brother Joe, 28, and pal Christopher Sharman, 29, were accused of brawling with rival fans and police outside a nightclub. Joe Maguire and Sharman got a 13-month suspended sentence. All three denied the charges. Yannis Paradissis, the prosecution lawyer at the trial, said yesterday: “[The officers] told me they are still waiting for an apology. “This is what I find quite shocking and unsporting.” He added: “If there had been an apology at the start, it would have ended much differently. If they had apologised I don’t think it would have come to this.”
He also suggested Harry’s sister Daisy, 20, had not spoken to police about claims she was injected with a drug by “two Albanians”, an incident that was said to have sparked the bust-up.
Maguire’s lawyers think images from the police station will show he was attacked by officers.
The conviction being nullified means he could return to the England squad to play Iceland and Denmark next month.