Man Utd’s Harry Maguire faces two-year wait to be cleared of Mykonos fight

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Manchester United captain Harry Maguire is facing a two-year wait to be cleared of his bar brawl in Mykonos.

The Englishman was involved in an alleged fight on the Greek Island in the summer of 2020 and was found guilty of assaulting a police officer, swearing and attempted bribery.

He was handed a prison sentence of 21 months and 10 days, which was suspended because it was a first offence and charges were misdemeanours.

Maguire’s lawyers immediately launched an appeal after the sentence last August – but Covid-19’s impact will cause delays.

Positive cases have piled up in Mykonos since its breakout last March.

And this will leave the United captain potentially waiting two years – taking him beyond the World Cup in Qatar – before an appeal can happen.

A representative of Mykonos police, Ioannis Paradissis, said: “Given the backlog, it could well be the case they don’t set a date until late 2022 or even early 2023.”

While local attorney Dimitris Choulis added: “Due to Covid there have been huge delays in the judicial system.

“Generally speaking the Greek judicial system is notoriously slow and the Covid crisis has made it even slower.”

But the attorney did suggest that Maguire’s lawyers delay the proceedings as long as possible.

This is because legal administrators on the island of Mykonos dismiss cases “every few years” to clear up the system.

And this would be a much cleaner route than seeing out the appeal, which would require a full retrial in a higher court with Maguire presumed innocent until proven guilty.

It is claimed the England international thought his sister Daisy had been stabbed by a “gangster-style” Albanian businessman, leading to the confrontation.

During the court hearing last year, Daisy was claimed by family friend Ashden Morley to have been injected with a “rape drug” in the Mykonos brawl.

• Harry Maguire
• Manchester United FC

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