Brothers 'to sue Greek police'

The Johnson brothers have both had precautionary head x-rays

Two English brothers convicted of injuring a cafe owner in Athens say they intend to sue the Greek Police.

Christian and Frederick Johnson received one-year jail sentences on Wednesday but have lodged appeals.

The brothers, who moved to Greece from Tunbridge Wells in Kent more than a year ago say they were treated badly by police officers.

Their father, who lives in East Sussex, said they were also suing the cafe owner.

Their mother Vera Johnson was found guilty of resisting arrest and was given a three-month jail term, but she avoided going to prison by paying a fine instead.

The charges stemmed from a row over a spilt kebab.

I am absolutely clear this stands out as a miscarriage of justice Richard Howitt MEP

The Johnsons, and Mrs Johnson's fiancé Andrew Glover were out in Athens late on Saturday night when an altercation began after 22-year-old Christian dropped some salad from a kebab outside Dimitris Karamichalos' cafe.

The brothers claimed Mr Karamichalos hit Christian with an iron bar but they were convicted of assault, after the court heard they had stamped on the cafe owner's leg, breaking it.

They immediately appealed against the verdict and were released pending the appeal, as is normal under Greek law.

Mr Glover, 44, had also been charged with resisting arrest before the case against him was dropped.

'Effectively tortured'

On Thursday Christian told the BBC: "I'm going to take up another point soon, a totally separate case against the police for the brutality my brother and I were subjected to."

He went on to allege that the treatment they received was tantamount to torture.

His 18-year-old brother says police left him with a black eye and blurred vision and both of them had head x-rays on Thursday as a precaution.

Mr Glover said: "They've lost their trust in human nature because if they see the police system can treat them like that they've lost their trust with everybody, even us to a certain extent and who wouldn't at their age?

"They just think the whole of society is against them."

The group were arrested in Athens in the early hours of Sunday

The Johnson brothers' father Andy Staermose said he was expecting them to come and stay with him at his home in St Leonards, East Sussex soon.

He said Frederick would stay in Greece until he had got his A level results on 14 August but he was expecting Christian to be in England on Monday.

He said he hoped the events would not compromise Frederick's chances of starting a degree course at Newcastle University in September.

Mr Staermose said the family was counter-suing Mr Karamichalos for assault and he had been told they had a good case for taking the Greek authorities to the European Court of Human Rights.

Richard Howitt, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who campaigned on their behalf said he thought the Johnsons had not received a fair trial.

The Greek Embassy told the BBC it could not comment on a judicial matter.