Harry Maguire: Manchester United captain set for 'full retrial' after assault conviction appeal granted
Harry Maguire is set for a retrial after an appeal was granted against his assault and attempted bribery conviction in Greece.
The Manchester United captain, 27, was found guilty on Tuesday of assaulting a police officer, swearing, resisting arrest and attempted bribery following an incident in Mykonos last Thursday.
He was handed a suspended 21-month prison sentence, which he immediately vowed to appeal.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for his club said his appeal had been granted and would lead to a "full retrial".
The United spokesman said: “An appeal against yesterday’s verdict was lodged this morning by Harry’s legal team.
"In accordance with the Greek judicial process, the filing of an appeal extinguishes the initial court verdict and nullifies the conviction.
“The appeal has been accepted and will lead to a full retrial in a more senior court.
"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.”
It is understood no date has yet been fixed, and while the club would like the matter dealt with as soon as possible, they recognise it could be a number of months before the appeal is heard.
News of the retrial came after the England defender's younger brother said there was "no change" he would apologise to the Greek police officers involved in the case.
Laurence Maguire spoke out on social media after a lawyer for two of the police officers said it was “shocking” neither Maguire nor his co-defendants had apologised.
Laurence Maguire, who plays for Chesterfield, tweeted: “Absolute no chance Harry will be apologising. Daisy (Maguire’s sister) and no one in the group was interviewed by the police.”
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The latter part of the tweet referenced a comment made by prosecution lawyer Yoannis Paradissis, who said it was “strange” that part of Maguire’s defence had been that his sister Daisy had been injected with an unknown substance prior to the incident which led to his arrest in Mykonos last week, when she had made no mention of it when interviewed by police.
Paradissis told BBC Radio Four’s Today Programme on Wednesday: “(The police officers) told me they are still waiting for an apology and they haven’t had any. This is what I find quite shocking and quite unsporting.
“Fair play means when I’ve done something wrong I apologise or at least I say I am sorry for what happened to the other person.”
England manager Gareth Southgate withdrew Maguire from the squad for the Nations League matches against Iceland and Denmark next month after the verdict was announced, having initially selected him.
Asked about Maguire’s claim in a statement on Tuesday that he was the victim, Paradissis said: “We don’t have the same definition of what a victim is then, because how can you be a victim and the policemen have been assaulted, hit, that were just doing their jobs?
“They went home on the day with injuries. How can they not be a victim?”
Paradissis said there was no way that Maguire and his co-defendants, brother Joe and friend Christopher Sharman, could not have known that they were dealing with police officers.
“Of course, because that’s the first thing they said,” he added. “The police officers were there for other duties and they heard a brawl.
“So they heard some people fighting and went there to break up a fight. They said, ‘We’re police, stop fighting’. They were not in uniform but they showed their professional IDs.”
Maguire signed a boot deal with Puma worth a reported £700,000 a year last year.
The sportswear manufacturer declined to comment on Tuesday’s verdict when contacted on Wednesday morning.
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Maguire says ‘truth can’t be hidden’ after Greek assault conviction
