Harry Maguire has walked free after a court appearance in Syros, after the Manchester United and England defender’s arrest for involvement in an alleged altercation on Mykonos.
The Greek daily newspaper Proto Thema said while the centre-back was allowed to walk free – and return to the UK if he wanted – his trial had been postponed until Tuesday and would take place before a three-member panel of judges in Syros’s criminal court.
After the hearing on Saturday morning, Maguire was asked if he was still at liberty. “Right now, yes,” the footballer’s lawyer said, according to Sky News.
Maguire, 27, had been taken to the island from neighbouring Mykonos on Friday because of the alleged incident that occurred the previous evening, alongside two of the United captain’s friends.
Greek police issued a statement in which he and the two other men, aged 28 and 29, were accused of “violence against officials, disobedience, bodily harm, insult and attempted bribery of an official”.
Maguire denies all the allegations. Under police escort he gave testimony before a state prosecutor on Syros, the administrative centre of the Cyclades chain, having been driven to the courthouse in Ermoupoli, the island’s capital.
Maguire has assembled a top-flight legal team, composed of three Greek lawyers and at least one Manchester United club attorney believed to have flown into Syros on a private plane with Maguire’s father overnight. The charges are among the most serious in the Greek penal code.
The legal team mounted a staunch defence of the footballer on Saturday attributing the alleged brawl, in part, to an attack “with a sharp object” on his sister after a day of heavy drinking and partying on the island.
“When that happened and he saw his sister in such a state [he] became incensed,” sources were quoted as telling Mykonos Voice, a local media outlet.
What began as a scuffle inside the bar in Mykonos’s trendy Fabrika district rapidly descended into a brawl outside between Maguire, his friends, rival fans and police who, conducting coronavirus inspections nearby, rushed to the scene.
In a statement Manchester United said: “Following the appearance in court today we note the adjournment of the case to allow the legal team to consider the case file. Harry has pleaded not guilty to the charges. It would be inappropriate for the player or club to comment further while the legal process takes its course.”