Harry Maguire given huge boost as Mykonos appeal hearing is ‘put back due to Covid-19 pandemic’

Harry Maguire’s appeal hearing in Greece is likely to be postponed this year as the country’s judicial system has stalled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Maguire was found guilty of assaulting police, verbal abuse, and attempted bribery by a court on the Greek island of Syros in August 2020 and had been expected to return this summer to appeal the conviction. 

However, a judicial official has revealed that the £85million star will not return to Greece for a hearing this year as the number of tribunal cases has risen due to the pandemic and that they are only seeing to ’emergency’ suits. 

Harry Maguire’s appeal hearing in Greece is likely to be postponed this year due to Covid-19

‘Only emergency cases are being held,’ an official told The Guardian. 

‘We have a backlog dating back several years and every week there are adjournments. Very probably this case will not be heard for all of 2021.’ 

As a result, Maguire will be able to focus on a busy few months of football – which will include the European Championships – before he is asked to return to Greece.

 He was found guilty of assaulting police, verbal abuse, and attempted bribery in Greece

 The incident was sparked after claims that the his sister had been injected with substance

Maguire was arrested by a team of undercover police drafted in from mainland Greece to target organised crime in Mykonos last summer.

The incident was sparked after claims that the England star’s sister had been injected with a substance by two Albanian men as they waited for a minibus in the Fabrika part of the island. 

As a result a brawl broke out – including his brother Joe and friend Christopher Sharman. 

The 28-year-old – who was found guilty of assaulting and trying to bribe Greek police – denied the accusations and claimed he was the victim just hours after the court ruling. 

Maguire also told the BBC that he thought he was being kidnapped by fake police in Mykonos and that he tried to run away ‘in fear for his life’ after they hit him in the legs and told him he ‘won’t play again’. 

Maguire launched an immediate appeal after being given a suspended prison sentence for his part in the brawl on the holiday island.  

Under Greek law an appeal will see Maguire given a retrial with the higher tribunal having up to eight years to hear the case.

However, when it does that place, Maguire will face a three-member panel of appeals court judges on the island of Syros. 

Despite the fact the legal proceedings could take place as late as 2028,  Panaghiotis Poulios – the island’s chief prosecutor – has said he wants the case to closed sooner rather than later.  

He said: ‘My clients want to see the end of this matter’.

While the lawyer, who represented two of the policemen during last year’s one-day trial, has reiterated the fact that Maguire would be be treated ‘more leniently’ if he apologised for the incident. 

‘In Greek criminal law if an apology is made, if you accept you are guilty, you are treated more leniently,’ he told the Guardian.

‘My clients were just doing their jobs and were injured in the incident. They are still expecting an apology and living in hope that, before long, he will say sorry to them.’