Manchester United defender Harry Maguire says he has “no regrets” about the way he handled himself during the infamous incident in Mykonos.
Maguire was arrested and later found guilty of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and attempted bribery while on holiday in Greece in August 2020. The 29-year-old England international was handed a 21-month suspended sentence for his involvement in a brawl outside a nightclub.
He has appealed the verdict and is hoping to be cleared of any wrongdoing at a retrial on the neighbouring island of Syros. Due to his appeal, Maguire does not currently have a criminal record and he insists he is innocent of any crime.
“Some people will believe me, some people won’t,” he told The Times. “But one thing I would say about Mykonos is that I have no regrets.
“I don’t worry about what the outcome is going to be. I don’t worry about anything to do with it because my conscience is so clear about what happened that night. The people who were there that night, there were nine of us, we all understand what went on and what happened.”
Maguire was on holiday with a group of family and friends which included his wife-to-be Fern Hawkins, his sister, Daisy, and his brother Joe. He claims that the altercation started outside the Bonbonniere bar after Daisy was injected with an unknown substance by two strangers.
He alleges that, despite wanting to take her to a hospital, he was taken to a police station where he was beaten. Worried he was part of a kidnap attempt, Maguire attempted to flee the scene.
Explaining why he did not have security with him, despite being a famous footballer, Maguire added: “I’m a lad who wants to live as normal a life as possible.
“I can remember at the time, when it happened, a lot of people were like, ‘Well, why hasn’t he got security following him around? He’s got enough money to do that.’ But the bottom line is, I’m on holiday with my family. I’m not on a lads’ holiday.”
Maguire is currently experiencing a poor run of form on the pitch for United, with manager Erik ten Hag often leaving him on the bench in favour of summer arrival Lisandro Martinez.
But he will be involved in England’s World Cup campaign after being named in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the tournament, which starts on November 20.
United have their final game before the World Cup against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday before Maguire and his England teammates will fly out to Qatar.
England begin their campaign against Iran on Monday, November 21 before further games against USA and Wales in Group B.
