Harry Maguire episode 'totally avoidable' if correct security measures taken

Harry Maguire and Manchester United took "needless" risks in Mykonos by failing to arrange adequate security when the player went out drinking with family and friends, according to a protection firm representing a host of Premier League players.

Alex Bomberg, the chief executive of security firm Intelligent Protection International,  said the United captain's arrest and subsequent conviction was "entirely avoidable" if clubs listened to his repeated warnings about footballers being sitting ducks while in public.

Maguire, who earns £180,000 a week, is appealing against the decision by three judges, who accepted the prosecutors' case that he punched and then shoved an officer to the ground before later trying to bribe his way out of trouble last week.

United and Maguire's defence claim they were not given enough time to prepare for the case, but Bomberg indicated the club should now be considering redrafting its security rules around players. "Any close protection officer worth his salt would have defused any potential situation and guided his or her client to safety," Bomberg told the Daily Telegraph.

"The fact is that high profile players and young high-net-worth individuals are putting themselves and their families needlessly in this position. Football clubs have a duty of care to the players and the players have a duty of care to their families and friends because on a night out they are very likely to be recognised and targeted... if they have nobody watching their backs, no one competent and sober to defuse possible situations and to act as a deterrent, these things will happen time and time again."

Maguire had been with a group of four men and three women leaving Bonbonniere bar in the Fabrika area of Mykonos following an all-day drinking session when trouble flared at around midnight on Thursday. The footballer was not present at Tuesday's hearing but his lawyer and friends told the court that two "seemingly Albanian" men attempted to drug his sister, Daisy. Maguire had asked the driver of the group's van to take  them to a hospital but the vehicle instead dropped them off at a nearby police station. Greek police said the player was arrested as they were trying to break up a dispute, with one of the defendants shouting "F--- the police, F--- Greece" as they approached.

Bomberg said the subsequent confrontation would have been avoided if he had a bodyguard present. "For a party of that size you would expect more than one close protection officer taking care of the entire party," he added. "These types of incidents are totally avoidable and a great close protection officer will always have that relationship with his or her client where they say, 'come on, its time to leave now'."

The legal battle to clear his name could last years, it was claimed on Wednesday, due to a backlog in the Greek courts means that cases are not typically heard until two to three years after a conviction is handed down. Maguire was sentenced to a prison term of 21 months and 10 days, suspended for three years as it was a first offence for assaulting four officers and then trying to bribe his way out of trouble.

His brother Joe, 28, and friend Chris Sharman, 29, also received suspended terms of 13 months each during the one-day hearing on Syros, which neighbours Mykonos.