‘I have no regrets’: Harry Maguire relives Mykonos clash with police as he prepares for World Cup

Harry Maguire has re-visited the agony of his arrest and conviction for assaulting a police officer, on the eve of leaving with the England team seeking World Cup glory.

The Manchester United defender, controversially picked for England despite a long run of poor form and absence from his Premier League team’s line-up, said he had ‘no regrets’ about the clash with police in Mykonos in the summer of 2020.

The £190,000-a-week defender tells today’s Times magazine that he was hoping to be cleared on appeal.

The soccer star was found guilty of assaulting up to six officers and then attempting to bribe them inside a police station while on holiday with eight family members and friends.

He received a suspended prison sentence of 21 months in 2020 but immediately launched an appeal, which will be heard on the neighbouring island of Syros.

His appeal meant he does not have a criminal record unless he is found guilty again in the re-trial.

The Manchester United defender was found guilty of assaulting up to six officers and then attempting to bribe them inside a police station while on holiday with eight family members and friends. Pictured: Maguire leaves a court building in Syros, Greece in 2020

Harry Maguire (pictured) has re-visited the agony of his arrest and conviction for assaulting a police officer, on the eve of leaving with the England team seeking World Cup glory

But his image was sullied by the events of August 21, 2020, when he was holidaying with a group including wife-to-be Fern Hawkins, 28, his sister, Daisy, 24, and his brother Joe, 26, at a £29,000-a-week villa in Mykonos.

After spending the day drinking at a beach club, they went to Mykonos town centre to the exclusive Bonbonniere bar, reportedly spending thousands.

At midnight the bar closed, and Maguire’s group waited outside for a minibus to take them back.

They and the police dispute what happened next. According to transcripts of the court hearing days later, Maguire and his group were arguing with two other men when they were spotted by plainclothes police.

Four officers tried to ‘calm things down’, police claim. The two men walked away, but Maguire’s group ‘started creating problems’.

The £190,000-a-week told The Times that he had ‘no regrets’ about the clash with police in Mykonos in the summer of 2020. Pictured: Maguire gave an interview to the BBC, where he said he feared for his life and thought he was being kidnapped when he was arrested on the island of Mykonos

Maguire received a suspended prison sentence of 21 months in 2020 but immediately launched an appeal

Maguire is said to have become abusive, telling officers: ‘F*** the police, f*** you all.’

But Maguire has claimed his younger sister Daisy had been approached by two man and injected with an unknown substance and began to pass in and out of consciousness.

Instead of getting help, he said police beat him and denied officers’ accusations that he tried to bribe them.

He told The Times: ‘Some people will believe me, some people won’t.

‘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.’

He said he had been unaware of the human rights issues in Qatar until the World Cup threw a spotlight on them but believed things had improved there because of the focus the tournament brought upon the country.

Maguire, 29, who was signed from Leicester for £85 million, is reportedly set to be put up for sale by Manchester United in January.