What started out as a fun holiday has drawn nearly six years of legal wrangling
In 2020 Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was detained in Greece and threatened with charges of aggravated assault after he allegedly struck police officer in Mykonos.
The legal case has now unfolded over nearly six years, beginning with the arrest during a summer holiday and concluding, for now, with a retrial verdict delivered in March 2026.
Maguire was arrested on 21 August 2020 on the island of Mykonos following an altercation involving his family and Greek law enforcement outside a bar. He spent two days in custody before appearing in court on the nearby island of Syros.
Prosecutors alleged repeated bodily harm, resisting arrest and attempted bribery after police intervened in the incident. On Maguire’s side, he said he had been scared for his life and thought he was being kidnapped, along with his brother and then fiancée, with one of the apparent attackers “hitting my legs and saying my career is over; saying: ‘No more football. You won’t play again’”.
“I feared for my life”
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire tells the BBC he thought he was being kidnapped when he was arrested in Greece last weekhttps://t.co/S3rZorWbMe pic.twitter.com/UcNHLMTQwa
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) August 27, 2020
On 25 August, a Greek court found the England defender, who was United captain at the time, guilty on all charges and handed him a suspended prison sentence of 21 months and 10 days. A suspended sentence means that the individual would not need to serve jail time unless they were to commit a similar offence within the stated period.
The following day, his legal team filed an appeal. Under Greek law, the appeal automatically nullified the conviction pending a full retrial, allowing Maguire to continue playing football while the case remained unresolved.
What followed was a drawn-out legal process with repeated postponements. Hearings scheduled between 2023 and 2025 were delayed for various reasons, from lawyer strikes in Greece to court documents that needed translating. Throughout this period, Maguire has consistently denied wrongdoing and rejected opportunities to settle the case, saying he intended to clear his name.
The retrial finally took place this month before a court in Syros. Maguire, who was not required to attend, was again found guilty, this time of non-serious assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery.
The court imposed a reduced 15-month suspended prison sentence. Again, this means that no prison time is required unless Maguire were to commit a similar offence in those 15 months.
Maguire’s legal representatives have confirmed plans to appeal to Greece’s Supreme Court, meaning the case is likely to continue. Under Greek statute of limitations rules, proceedings must conclude by August 2028 or be closed entirely.
