Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 9:36am
Liverpool fan Michael Shields has been pardoned by Justice Secretary Jack Straw.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8245760.stm
http:/
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 9:41am
well, whats right for the lockaby bomber.......
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 10:13am
If he is innocent and it seems that he is then the one who did it should get sorted now.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 10:14am
Do they have the one that did it?
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 10:17am
Apparently, he went forward and gave a statement to the family and independent witnesses, Jack Straw took this into account when making his decision.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 11:13am
The noisey hinge gets the oil
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 11:34am
A disgrace. The man who was attacked identified Shields as his attacker.
Strange isn't it, but after the Heysel disaster, they didn't go around the streets of Liverpool screaming "justice", rounding up the guilty and handing them over to the law.
Strange isn't it, but after the Heysel disaster, they didn't go around the streets of Liverpool screaming "justice", rounding up the guilty and handing them over to the law.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 6:38pm
I strongly opposed this. I do believe he was innocent, the Bulgarian justic system completely messed up and the "investigation" was a shambles from day, with no actual hard evidence discovered, and more evidence to suggest it wasnt Michael, plus of course the subsequent admittance of guilt by another person.
However my big concern with his pardon, is the consequences it will pose for all future British prisoners abroad, who have been wrongly convicted.
However my big concern with his pardon, is the consequences it will pose for all future British prisoners abroad, who have been wrongly convicted.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 7:22pm
Great News
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 7:33pm
Originally Posted by Bandageman
Great News
this is great news
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 7:36pm
at last he can reunite with his family and friends and enjoy a night out with them.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 7:43pm
Originally Posted by Shadow_Omega
at last he can reunite with his family and friends and enjoy a night out with them.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 8:34pm
Great news for him and his Family and Friends, shame it has took this long.
And stay away from Bricks (take that in jest)
Originally Posted by Shadow_Omega
at last he can reunite with his family and friends and enjoy a night out with them.
And stay away from Bricks (take that in jest)
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 9:53pm
Its about time
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 10:01pm
I know he's been pardoned, but his conviction has not been quashed, which can only be done in Bulgaria, i wonder if their now going to try and do that or settle for what he has got.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 10:04pm
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.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 9th Sep 2009 10:13pm
Why haven't the British Police arrested the above named or has it got to be requested by the Bulgarian authorities.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 10th Sep 2009 8:05am
Originally Posted by MattLFC
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.
What i found funny about what Straw said was "New evidance has come to my attention" or along them lines.
Did he not read any of the National Newspapers when most of them reported that Sankey had confessed to some people? He even made a statment and withdrew it ffs.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 10th Sep 2009 9:27am
Listening to Radio Merseyside this morning they said that Shields had signed a deal with TV or National media and maybe a book deal and refuses to give them an interview. Reading between the lines its miffed them off because they gave a lot of air time to his family and the campaign.
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 10th Sep 2009 12:33pm
Finally, some reaction from Bulgaria, including Martin Georgiev:
BBC News Report
Originally Posted by BBC News
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."
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."
Originally Posted by BBC News
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.
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.
BBC News Report
Re: Michael Shields has been pardoned - 16th Sep 2009 2:29pm
Yeah, this last few years could end up being the best of his life.
Prison followed by a life supported by a book deal and interviews etc. Any scousers dream (tongue in cheek).
Prison followed by a life supported by a book deal and interviews etc. Any scousers dream (tongue in cheek).