Source: Daily_Mail
Jailed Liverpool football fan Michael Shields walks free after being pardoned over attempted murder
Liverpool fan Michael Shields, who was jailed for 15 years in Bulgaria for the attempted murder of a barman, smiled and gave a thumbs up as he was freed on Wednesday.[LNB]Shields, 22, was convicted after an incident following Liverpool's Champions League victory in Turkey in 2005. He was later transferred to a prison in the UK.[LNB]Today he was picked up from Thorn Cross Young Offender Institution in Warrington, Cheshire, by his parents, Marie and Michael.[LNB] Convicted: Michael Shields reacts after being sentenced to 15 years in Bulgaria[LNB]He smiled and gestured to waiting journalists at the gate as he was driven away by supporter Joe Anderson.[LNB]His pardon by Justice Secretary Jack Straw follows a campaign by hisfamily, MPs, clergymen, Liverpool players and many others, who believehe is innocent.[LNB]Mr Straw had met with Shields' parents on August 28, when theypresented new evidence which convinced him of Shields's innocence, hesaid in a statement.[LNB]Following that meeting he recommended to the Queen that Shields be pardoned[LNB]Shields' solicitor John Wheate said today: 'At first Michaelcouldn't believe it after all these years and knock backs. But now heis absolutely ecstatic and so are his family.'[LNB]Player support: Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard wearing a T-shirt for Michael Shields [LNB]Mr Straw said he was told by Shields' parents about a meetingbetween members of the Shields family and another man accused of theattack on barman Martin Georgiev, who was struck on the head with arock.[LNB]Mr Straw was told the man, Graham Sankey, confessed to the attack on the second day of Shields' trial in Bulgaria.[LNB]He said: 'I was told in the course of the visit that the man made an oral confession in front of several other people.[LNB]'This episode, I was told, happened on 22 July 2005, a day after the start of Mr Shields' trial in Bulgaria.[LNB]'I will not set out in this statement all the evidence that has cometo light over the last two weeks but suffice it to say that there isvery good reason to believe I was being told the truth.[LNB]'This, in my view, profoundly changed the credibility of the various accounts of what actually happened in this case.[LNB]'I have concluded, having looked carefully at all the evidence nowavailable, that Michael Shields is telling the truth when he says he isinnocent of the attempted murder of which he was convicted in Bulgaria.[LNB] Taking a stand: Liverpool fans with a banner protesting Michael Shields' innocent [LNB] [LNB] 'That being so I have recommended to Her Majesty the Queen that he should be granted a free pardon.[LNB]Mr Shields is being released from prison today and will return home to his family a free man.'[LNB]After he was told of the confession, Mr Straw asked Merseyside Police to make further inquiries.[LNB]Details of the evidence, and of what the police uncovered, has been passed to the Bulgarian authorities.[LNB] Released: Shields is now a free man after spending four years in prison[LNB]The alleged confession by Mr Sankey, an electrician from Liverpool, had been ruled inadmissible at Shields' trial.[LNB]Mr Sankey's solicitor later suggested it may have been an entirely different fight in which his client took part.[LNB]A Downing Street spokesman said Prime Minister Gordon Brown was 'very supportive' of the decision to pardon Shields.[LNB] Liverpool 0 West Ham 0: Reds limp to the top - cheers for the cause but boos at the whistle Football fan jailed over bar assault in Bulgaria could be free by ChristmasJailed fan's father hits out at retrial denialLIVERPOOL FC
