Jailed Liverpool fan pardoned

Liverpool football fan Michael Shields, who was jailed for 15 years in Bulgaria for the attempted murder of a barman, has been pardoned, his lawyer said today.

Shields, 22, was convicted after a disturbance following Liverpool FC’s European Cup victory in Turkey in 2005.

He was later transferred to a prison in the UK.

His pardon follows a campaign by his family, MPs, clergymen, Liverpool FC players and many others, who believe he is innocent.

His lawyer John Wheate said the jailed fan was "absolutely ecstatic" when he was given the news earlier today.

His parents had been told of the decision in a telephone call this morning.

Mr Wheate said: “I don’t know if Michael has been released yet but I can confirm he has been pardoned and will be released today.

“His parents spoke to (British Justice Secretary) Jack Straw earlier this morning and I have spoken to Michael myself. At first he couldn’t believe it after all these years and knockbacks.

“But now he is absolutely ecstatic and so are his family.”

Mr Straw announced his provisional decision not to grant a pardon on July 2.

But at a meeting with Shields’ parents on August 28, new evidence emerged which convinced him of Shields’s innocence, he said in a statement.

Following that meeting he has recommended to the Queen that Shields be pardoned.

Shields will walk free from prison today, he confirmed.

In his statement, Mr Straw said he was told by Shields' parents about a meeting between members of the Shields family and another man accused of the killing.

Mr Straw was told the man, who is not named, confessed to the killing on the second day of Michael Shields’ trial in Bulgaria.

He said: “I was told in the course of the visit that the man made an oral confession in front of several other people.

“This episode, I was told, happened on 22 July 2005, a day after the start of Mr Shields’ trial in Bulgaria.”

“I will not set out in this statement all the evidence that has come to light over the last two weeks but suffice it to say that there is very good reason to believe I was being told the truth.

“This in my view profoundly changed the credibility of the various accounts of what actually happened in this case.

“I have concluded, having looked carefully at all the evidence now available, that Michael Shields is telling the truth when he says he is innocent of the attempted murder of which he was convicted in Bulgaria."