BEVERLY HILLS, August 25, (THEWILL) – Manchester United skipper, Harry Maguire, has been found guilty of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and repeated attempts of bribery.
The centre-back was convicted of all the charges against him by a court on the island of Syros in Greece on Tuesday.
He was arrested with his brother and a friend after a fight started while he was on holiday in Mykonos over claims his sister was injected with a suspected “rape drug”.
The court had been asked to shift proceedings over the incident, which happened last Thursday during a family getaway.
However, the trial went ahead in the absence of all three defendants – Maguire, his brother Joe and their friend, Christopher Sharman.
Speaking after the verdict, the lawyer who assisted the prosecution stated that 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.”
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The lawyer stated that the victims were “totally appalled” by Maguire and his co-defendants’ behaviour.
The prosecution alleged that Maguire had stated: “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.”
It was gathered that plain clothes police officers tried to bring calm to the situation but the “English men” did not, and one of the defendants said “f***, f*** the police” and a police officer was also punched.
The trial went ahead against the wishes of Maguire’s defence team, with his lawyer Alexis Anagnostakis, disclosing to the court in Syros that two Albanian men had approached Maguire’s sister, Daisy – who fainted immediately after being injected with an unknown substance.
They called for transport and requested to be taken to the hospital, but were instead taken to a police department.
Anagnostakis alleged that Maguire was then kicked in the leg by police officers who told him: “Your career is over”.
The defence stated that they were breaking away to make a phone call. But the police officer said he did not see them make one.
The court was told that one officer received first aid while trying to make an arrest, because Maguire got upset when he realised he was handcuffed and tried to break away.
The officer who handcuffed Maguire said the footballer pushed him hard, making him to fall backwards and hurt his back and suffer a leg injury. He revealed he was injected with painkillers and took the next day off to recover.
A third police officer also corroborated this story.
Maguire, who was not present in court, pleaded not guilty, denying charges of aggravated assault and attempted bribery of an official.
