Maguire found guilty of assault, resisting arrest, attempted bribery
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire was found guilty Tuesday of aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and attempted bribery following a brawl outside a nightclub on the Greek island of Mykonos, according to Helena Smith of The Guardian.
Maguire was handed a suspended prison sentence of 21 months and 10 days.
Two other members of Maguire's party - his older brother, Joe, and friend Christopher Sharman - were found guilty by the three-judge panel.
Maguire's legal team will appeal the verdict.
"Following the hearing today, I have instructed my legal team with immediate effect to inform the courts we will be appealing," the 27-year-old said in a statement The Telegraph's Mike McGrath obtained. "I remain strong and confident regarding our innocence in this matter. If anything, myself, family, and friends are the victims."
England manager Gareth Southgate had called up Maguire to play in upcoming Nations League matches against Iceland and Denmark but later dropped the center-back from the squad.
Maguire's lawyer, Alexis Anagnostakis, attempted in vain to postpone Tuesday's trial, according to Sky Sports correspondent Martha Kelner. Anagnostakis said he only received a hard copy of the charges hours before the trial was due to begin. The court denied his request.
Anagnostakis insisted the brawl erupted only after a pair of Albanian men attacked Maguire's sister, Daisy. The two men allegedly injected Daisy with an unknown substance, causing her to faint.
Maguire's party called a van and asked to be driven to the hospital, according to testimony Kelner heard, but they were instead taken to the police station. They said officers assaulted them upon arrival. One officer allegedly kicked Maguire in the leg, telling him, "Your career is over."
The prosecution insisted that Maguire and his traveling party were the aggressors, according to Smith. Two officers told the court that Maguire offered a bribe to be released from custody. "Please, let me go. I am very rich. I can pay," Maguire allegedly said. "I am the leader of Manchester United."
Yannis Paradeisis, the lawyer representing the police officers, told The Associated Press that "the whole thing could have ended with an apology."
"The officers I was representing were just doing their job," Paradeisis said. "We have no heard an apology from Mr. Maguire or the other two defendants. We all understand that someone can go on holiday and get in some kind of trouble, but it is not right to behave this way."