Harry Maguire, defender for Manchester United F.C., has been found guilty of non-serious assault and handed a suspended 15-month jail sentence following a retrial into a 2020 incident in Greece. The sentence was reduced from the original 21 months.
The retrial, held on 4 March 2026 on the Greek island of Mykonos, marked the fifth attempt to resolve the case. Maguire, who was arrested six years ago while holidaying with eight others including his sister, brother, and wife, faced allegations of aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and attempted bribery.
Under Greek law, the original 2020 conviction was automatically quashed on appeal, and the retrial had been postponed four times before finally proceeding. Maguire did not attend the hearing as he was preparing for Manchester United’s Premier League fixture against Newcastle United F.C..
As a result of the retrial, the suspended sentence was shortened and Maguire no longer faces a fine.
The altercation took place during the summer break between the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, a year after Maguire joined Manchester United from Leicester City for £80 million, a record fee for a defender at the time. Maguire was serving as United’s captain and was a regular for England national football team.
Speaking to the BBC after his arrest in 2020, Maguire described fearing for his life when plain-clothed police officers stopped his group’s minibus, pulled him off, struck him on the legs, and threatened his career. He explained:
“They hit me a lot on the legs. It wasn’t on my mind. I was in that much of a panic. Fear. Scared for my life. I don’t feel I owe an apology to anybody. An apology is something when you have done something wrong. I don’t wish it on anybody. Obviously the situation has made it difficult for one of the biggest clubs in the world, so I regret putting the fans and the club through this, but I did nothing wrong.”
Maguire said he tried to escape while handcuffed, uncertain who the officers were.
Reflecting on the original trial, Maguire described the process as “horrible” due to its speed and lack of preparation time.
“It was such a quick turnaround it was incredible. We got the pages for the transcript on the evening before, all in Greek. I hardly had any chance to speak to my lawyer. We were confident the case would be adjourned to give us more time to prepare and get witnesses and evidence. For it all to happen so quickly… we obviously didn’t expect the trial to go ahead.”
Despite the legal challenges, Maguire remains focused on his football career and continues to feature in Manchester United’s Premier League squad.
