Harry Maguire granted retrial after lodging appeal in Greece

Harry Maguire is pictures leaving court in Greece following allegations of a brawl with police.
Harry Maguire will not be apologising. Credit: PA

Harry Maguire’s conviction for assaulting a police offer and attempted bribery has been nullified after it was confirmed his legal team had lodged an appeal against Tuesday’s guilty verdict.

The Manchester United and England defender had been convicted at a court on the Greek island of Syros for those offences and handed a 21-month suspended prison sentence.

It is understood no date has yet been fixed for the appeal and, while United would like the matter dealt with as soon as possible, they recognise it could be a number of months before the appeal is heard.A club 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.”

Laurence Maguire, left, with brother Harry, right. Credit: PA

There is, however, “no chance” Maguire will apologise to the Greek police officers involved in his assault case, according to his brother.

Laurence Maguire, the younger sibling of the Manchester United and England defender, spoke out on social media after the lawyer for two police officers said it was “shocking” neither Maguire nor his co-defendants had apologised.

Prosecution lawyer Yoannis Paradissis told BBC Radio Four’s Today Programme on Wednesday that an apology could lead to a different outcome in any appeal, but Chesterfield defender Laurence Maguire says his brother has no intention of doing so.

“Absolute no chance Harry will be apologising. Daisy and no one in the group was interviewed by the police,” he posted on Twitter.

The latter reference followed comments from Paradissis that Daisy Maguire, Harry and Laurence’s sister, had not mentioned anything about an injection she had been given when interviewed by police.

Maguire’s defence referred to the injection incident in the hearing on Tuesday.

Harry Maguire has been found guilty. Credit: PA

Paradissis said: “(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.”

The impact of Maguire’s conviction is already being felt, with England manager Gareth Southgate withdrawing him from the squad for the Nations League matches against Iceland and Denmark next month, having initially selected him.

United mentioned in Tuesday’s statement that defence lawyer Alexis Anagnostakis and his team had been given “minimal time” to consider the charges and that a request to adjourn the trial had been denied.

Harry Maguire. Credit: PA

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?”

Asked whether Maguire and his co-defendants would have known the officers were police, Paradissis said: “Of course, because that’s the first thing they said. 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.”