(Adds Maguire’s England withdrawal)

ATHENS, Aug 25 (Reuters) - England and Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was handed a suspended sentence of 21 months and 10 days by a Greek court on Tuesday after he was found guilty of multiple charges following a brawl on the island of Mykonos last Thursday.

Court officials said he had been found guilty of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery, violence against public employees and insult after his arrest in Mykonos.

The 27-year-old England international was one of three people arrested on Thursday after an altercation with police.

“Following the hearing today, I have instructed my legal team with immediate effect to inform the courts we will be appealing,” Maguire said in a statement.

“I remain strong and confident regarding our innocence in this matter - if anything myself, family and friends are the victims.”

Following the hearing, England coach Gareth Southgate withdrew Maguire from his squad for next month’s Nations League matches against Iceland and Denmark.

"As I said earlier today, I reserved the right to review the situation," Southgate, who had initially selected the centre back in his 24-man squad, said in a statement here

“Having spoken to Manchester United and the player, I have made this decision in the best interests of all parties and with consideration of the impact on our preparations for next week.”

Maguire was arrested, along with brother Joe and friend Christopher Sharman, on Thursday night after a brawl in which two police officers were allegedly assaulted on Mykonos.

“What the policemen, who are the victims, are still waiting for is a simple apology from a man who says that he is a champion,” Ioannis Iakovos Paradisis, the lawyer who represented the police officers, told Reuters.

Joe Maguire was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, violence against public employees and attempted bribery. Sharman was found guilty of insult, repeated bodily harm and violence against public employees.

Both were sentenced to 13 months in prison, suspended for three years.

All three men had denied the charges against them.

Manchester United captain Maguire, who was released from custody over the weekend, was not present at the trial before a judge on the nearby island of Syros on Tuesday.

Maguire is being represented by Greek human rights lawyer Alexis Anagnostakis, whose request for an adjournment was rejected.

Anagnostakis told the court that two Albanian men had approached Maguire’s sister Daisy - who fainted immediately after being injected with an unknown substance.

The defendants asked to be driven to a hospital, but were instead taken to a police station, he added.

A police witness for the prosecution told the court that Maguire attempted to bribe his way out of the situation.

“Do you know who I am? I am the captain of Manchester United, I am very rich, I can give you money, I can pay you, please let us go,” the witness told the bench.

Former Leicester City player Maguire’s ill-fated trip to the popular Greek holiday island followed his club’s semi-final defeat by Sevilla in the Europa League in Cologne.

Maguire has earned 26 England caps since making his debut against Lithuania in a World Cup qualifier in 2018.

United paid Leicester 80 million pounds ($105 million) - a world record fee for a defender - for Maguire in August 2019 and he was made captain at the start of this year.

“It should be noted that the prosecution confirmed the charges and provided their evidence late on the day before the trial, giving the defence team minimal time to digest them and prepare,” United said in a statement.

“A request for the case to be adjourned was subsequently denied.

“On this basis, along with the substantial body of evidence refuting the charges, Harry Maguire’s legal team will now appeal the verdict, to allow a full and fair hearing at a later date.” ($1 = 0.7615 pounds) (Reporting by Renee Maltezou, Martyn Herman, Simon Evans and Hardik Vyas, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Source: Reuters

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