Forums Forums Local News Michael Shields has been pardoned

I believe from what I read on the BBC, that Jack Straw has urged the Bulgarian authorities to re-open the investigation, so one day he may well be cleared and the real perpertrator (Graham Sankey?) put behind bars.

A senior Bulgarian politician has condemned the royal pardon given to Michael Shields, the Liverpool fan convicted of attacking a barman. Former deputy prime minister Ivailo Kalfin said he was very shocked by the decision and said it "gave a very bad signal to football hooliganism".

Martin Georgiev, who was left with a fractured skull after the attack in Bulgaria, also queried the decision. Mr Shields, of Liverpool, was pardoned by Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

Mr Kalfin, who is now an MEP, said: "I feel that, over the past few days, political considerations took over the need for justice and I am really disturbed with it. Jack Straw has to find some explanation for his decision, but this is not convincing - several people saw the attack. Mr Shields has been convicted and we have received no written confession from anyone suggesting otherwise."

Mr Georgiev was hit with a paving stone in Varna, shortly after the Champions League final in 2005. "I would be curious to know on what grounds they freed him - I still suffer from my injuries," Mr Georgiev said.

The victim, who had been working in one of the bars in the city when he was attacked, said: "It is not for me to say, it was the court's decision. I am not the person who decides on the fate of Michael Shields. But I know that I am still in pain, my health is not good - a change in the seasons and I hurt more."

Shortly after the attack, which Mr Shields has always maintained he did not carry out, Mr Georgiev said doctors had told his parents that he "nearly died". "Doctors were not sure that I would ever wake up, and if I did, they said, there was an 80 to 90% of not being normal and totally recovered."

Another man, Graham Sankey, who made a written statement during the first days of Mr Shields' trial in Bulgaria in July 2005, confessing to the attack, later withdrew it and has denied any involvement.