Harry Maguire says he ‘feared for his life’ during arrest in Greece

'My initial thought was we were getting kidnapped,' Manchester United captain says

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has said he “feared for his life” when arrested by Greek officers on the island of Mykonos earlier this month.

The England footballer, the world’s most expensive defender, was found guilty of charges including repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery, and violence against public employees in court on Wednesday following the altercation on the Greek island.

Officers told the court the 27-year-old, his brother and a friend had physically and verbally attacked officers, with the footballer then allegedly telling them: “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.”

Maguire was handed a 21-month suspended prison sentence over the charges, but has appealed the charge, which means his conviction has been annulled in the eyes of the Greek law.

In his first interview since his sentence was handed down, Maguire has said he owed no apologies and denied the version of events put forward by officers.

Describing his time in police custody as “horrible” and “not something I would ever want to do again”, he told the BBC: “I don’t feel like I owe an apology to anybody.

“An apology is something when you’ve done something wrong. I regret being in the situation.

“Obviously the situation’s made it difficult, I play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, so I regret putting the fans and the club through this.”

The court heard from Maguire’s lawyer that the events were triggered after his sister was injected with an unknown substance that they feared was a rape drug by two “Albanian” men, causing her eyes to roll back in her head.

Maguire said: “These two men approached my little sister.

“They asked her where she was from, she responded, then my fiancé Fern had seen my little sister’s eyes go into the back of her head.

“She ran over and she was fainting, she was in and out of consciousness.”

He alleged he and his friends then attempted to get to hospital, but were instead taken to a police station.

It is there he claims he was accosted by plain-clothes police officers. Maguire told the BBC he did not know the men were law enforcement.

He said: “My initial thought was we were getting kidnapped. We got down on our knees we put our hands in the air, and then they just started hitting us.

“They were hitting my legs saying ‘Your career is over, no more football. You won’t play again.’

“And at this point I thought there’s no chance these are police, and I don’t know who they are, so I tried to run away.”

Maguire has since been dropped from upcoming England fixtures, but a Manchester United spokesperson noted his appeal means he “has no criminal record and is once again presumed innocent until proven guilty”.

Commenting on the upcoming appeal, the footballer added: “I have great faith in the Greek law and I hope the retrial will give us more time to prepare, gather the evidence, allow witnesses into the court and I’m really sure that the truth will be told and come out.”