Michael Shields : pardon decision "within days" - 29th Jun 2009 10:53pm
Jailed Liverpool fan Michael: pardon decision "within days"
Jailed Liverpool fan Michael Shields will hear "within days" whether he is to be freed with a royal pardon.
According to the Ministry of Justice an announcement on the case will be made "in the next few days".
The long-awaited decision by Justice Secretary Jack Straw is widely expected to sweep aside the 2005 conviction of the Liverpool fan for attempted murder in Bulgaria.
Michael, 22, has served more than four years of a 10-year sentence for the attempted murder of Bulgarian bartender Martin Georgiev in the Black Sea resort of Varna.
He is currenlty held at Thorn Cross Prison in Cheshire and has been eligible for a pardon since last December when the High Court ruled that it would be legal under UK law.
Since then the student's release has been hampered by legal red tape.
First a top QC reviewed the case for Jack Straw and that was followed by the Justice Secretary ordering a Merseyside Police investigation of the evidence in the case.
Mr Straw has been expected to make his decision before the end of June since he indicated to the Shields family that the decision was unlikely to be earlier.
Asked today (monday 29th June) when a decision would be made a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "An announcement will me made in the next few days."
Michael's conviction for attempted murder of a barman in Bulgaria in 2005 was identified as a miscarriage of justice in the High Court Judicial Review.
Michael's mother Marie Shields said: "We are just waiting, hoping and praying now that jack Straw will do the right thing and let Michael go.
"Michael is completely innocent and everyone who looks at his case can see that.
"Because of bad justice in Bulgaria and legal red tape in Britain he has spent the best years of his youth behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
"This waiting for a decision on a royal pardon from Jack Straw seems to have gone on for ever. It is agony waiting for a phone call to tell us he is free. My nerves are shattered."
"I fully understand, of course, that Michael Shields and his family want an early decision on his application and I shall do all I can to reach a conclusion as quickly as possible.
At the time that he ordered an investigation by Merseyside Police, Jack Straw said: "Given the work that needs to be done, it is only fair to say that a decision is unlikely to be made before the end of May.
"This is, I am sorry to say, longer than I had anticipated. But, the timescales are bound to be determined by the requirement of the inquiries."
Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of the opposition Labour group on Liverpool City Council is a leading campaigner for Michael's release.
Cllr Anderson said: "We are expecting the announcement any hour now. I'm sure Jack Straw will not want the embarrassment of delaying any further any running into July."
CLICK LIVERPOOL.CO.UK
Jailed Liverpool fan Michael Shields will hear "within days" whether he is to be freed with a royal pardon.
According to the Ministry of Justice an announcement on the case will be made "in the next few days".
The long-awaited decision by Justice Secretary Jack Straw is widely expected to sweep aside the 2005 conviction of the Liverpool fan for attempted murder in Bulgaria.
Michael, 22, has served more than four years of a 10-year sentence for the attempted murder of Bulgarian bartender Martin Georgiev in the Black Sea resort of Varna.
He is currenlty held at Thorn Cross Prison in Cheshire and has been eligible for a pardon since last December when the High Court ruled that it would be legal under UK law.
Since then the student's release has been hampered by legal red tape.
First a top QC reviewed the case for Jack Straw and that was followed by the Justice Secretary ordering a Merseyside Police investigation of the evidence in the case.
Mr Straw has been expected to make his decision before the end of June since he indicated to the Shields family that the decision was unlikely to be earlier.
Asked today (monday 29th June) when a decision would be made a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "An announcement will me made in the next few days."
Michael's conviction for attempted murder of a barman in Bulgaria in 2005 was identified as a miscarriage of justice in the High Court Judicial Review.
Michael's mother Marie Shields said: "We are just waiting, hoping and praying now that jack Straw will do the right thing and let Michael go.
"Michael is completely innocent and everyone who looks at his case can see that.
"Because of bad justice in Bulgaria and legal red tape in Britain he has spent the best years of his youth behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
"This waiting for a decision on a royal pardon from Jack Straw seems to have gone on for ever. It is agony waiting for a phone call to tell us he is free. My nerves are shattered."
"I fully understand, of course, that Michael Shields and his family want an early decision on his application and I shall do all I can to reach a conclusion as quickly as possible.
At the time that he ordered an investigation by Merseyside Police, Jack Straw said: "Given the work that needs to be done, it is only fair to say that a decision is unlikely to be made before the end of May.
"This is, I am sorry to say, longer than I had anticipated. But, the timescales are bound to be determined by the requirement of the inquiries."
Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of the opposition Labour group on Liverpool City Council is a leading campaigner for Michael's release.
Cllr Anderson said: "We are expecting the announcement any hour now. I'm sure Jack Straw will not want the embarrassment of delaying any further any running into July."
CLICK LIVERPOOL.CO.UK