Harry Maguire: Manchester United captain given suspended jail term for assault and attempted bribery in Greece

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has been found guilty of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery in Greece.

He was handed a jail term of 21 months and 10 days following a hearing on Tuesday.

However, this will be suspended because it was a first offence and the charges were classed as misdemeanours, according to Sky News.

The football star, 27, was arrested following a brawl on the island of Mykonos last Thursday.

He said in a statement that he will appeal the sentence.

“Following the hearing today, I have instructed my legal team with immediate effect to inform the courts we will be appealing," he said.

“I remain strong and confident regarding our innocence in this matter – if anything myself, family and friends are the victims.”

Maguire was released from custody over the weekend, after appearing at a hearing on Saturday morning on the nearby island of Syros.

He was not present at the subsequent court case on Tuesday, when – just hours after receiving the backing of England manager Gareth Southgate – he was found guilty of the charges.

Greek police had accused Maguire, his brother Joe, 28, and family friend Christopher Sharman, 29, of "violence against officials, disobedience, bodily harm, insult and attempted bribery of an official".

The 27-year-old pleaded not guilty to all charges.

His lawyer, Alexis Anagnostakis, attempted to postpone the trial having only received the charge sheet two hours before.

However, it went ahead as planned and Maguire was shown no leniency by the panel of three judges.

Joe Maguire was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, violence against public employees and attempted bribery following the hearing on Tuesday.

Sharman was found guilty of insult, repeated bodily harm and violence against public employees.

The prosecution alleged Maguire and his two companions pushed police officers at the scene of the incident.

They said the trio then attempted to break away in a van to avoid arrest, before arriving at the police department where the 27-year-old said: “I am the captain of Manchester United, I am very rich, I can give you money, I can pay you, please let us go.”

The Football Association have yet to comment on the matter but Manchester United released a statement on Tuesday evening.

A club statement read: “Manchester United notes the verdict of the Greek court today.

“Harry Maguire pleaded not guilty to all of the misdemeanour charges made against him and he continues to strongly assert his innocence.

“It should be noted that the prosecution confirmed the charges and provided their evidence late on the day before the trial, giving the defence team minimal time to digest them and prepare.

“A request for the case to be adjourned was subsequently denied.

"On this basis, along with the substantial body of evidence refuting the charges, Harry Maguire’s legal team will now appeal the verdict, to allow a full and fair hearing at a later date.”

Earlier in the day, Southgate named Maguire on his squad for September's Nations League.

Asked if Maguire could be dropped from the squad if found guilty, Southgate said: “Well, I’m not going to get into hypotheticals of what might or might not happen but, as I said, I’ve got to reserve the right to review if further information becomes available.

“I think whenever you’re in a management position, you have to make lots of decisions and you always make decisions to the best of your ability given the information that you have.

“People might agree or disagree with those decisions but, you know, I think that’s the position every manager finds themselves in and at this moment in time that’s where I am with it.

“As I said, Harry regrets the fact that he’s brought that sort of focus and attention on the team and he apologised for that.

“But he also has his own side of the story that I think will come out in time.”

Read more

Harry Maguire spends second night behind bars after Mykonos incident