By Richard Littlejohn http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=107730
Even after scoring twice in England's clinical World Cup qualifying victory over Croatia this week, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard could not have expected a more ecstatic homecoming on Merseyside than that which greeted Michael Shields. The Bishop of Liverpool led the celebrations over the release of Mr Shields, who was given a royal pardon four years after being convicted of the attempted murder of a barman in Bulgaria.
It was the culmination of a concerted campaign by the football fan's family and friends. Mr Shields, who was in Bulgaria watching Liverpool win the Champions League final, has always maintained that he was fast asleep in his hotel room when a slab of concrete was dropped on the head of barman Martin Georgiev during a drunken fracas.Despite protesting his innocence, Mr Shields was found guilty and jailed for 15 years. This was later commuted to ten years by the Bulgarian Supreme Court, and he was allowed to return to Britain to serve the rest of the sentence. At the time of the trial, another man, Liverpool electrician Graham Sankey, admitted to the attack after being visited by two members of the Shields family.Sankey issued a written confession through his lawyer, but it was ruled inadmissible by the Bulgarian court. He has a string of public order convictions and last year, on Merseyside, he was jailed for racially aggravated harassment.His confession was a matter of public record when, as recently as this July, Justice Secretary Jack Straw refused an application to pardon Mr Shields.
So what has changed so fundamentally in the past few weeks that Straw is now able to announce a full pardon? 'I have concluded, having looked carefully at all the evidence now available, that Michael Shields is telling the truth,' he said on Wednesday.This profoundly changed the credibility of the various accounts of what happened.'Straw says that when he met Mr Shields's parents last month they told him they had been to see Sankey during their son's original trial and he had made an oral confession to the attack.But I can't see how an alleged oral confession during a private meeting with the Shields family trumps a written admission of guilt issued through a lawyer.If there is fresh evidence then I'm sure the Bulgarians would like to hear it, too.If it incriminates Graham Sankey, then Bulgaria should be informed and encouraged to seek an extradition order so they can put him on trial for attempted murder.Mr Shields has the right to have his name cleared in open court.There would be no reason for him to spend another moment behind bars. He could have been released on his own recognisance until a court could be convened.Please don't think I'm insinuating that he may be guilty. It's just that the way in which this has been handled is deeply unsatisfactory.Whenever there's something murky involving this Government, the dead hand of Jolly Jack Straw is never far away.Was there a political calculation behind this decision? Is the Bishop of Liverpool an Anglican?Michael Shields's father had threatened to stand against Straw in Blackburn at the next General Election unless his son was released.In Liverpool, the LibDems control the council and are aggressively targeting Labour's parliamentary seats. Louise Ellman, LibDem MP for Liverpool Riverside, has been prominent in the Free Michael Shields movement.Local hero Steven Gerrard has been a strong supporter of the campaign, which has united Liverpool and Everton fans alike and become a cause celebre on Merseyside.Labour certainly wouldn't have wanted this case hanging over them at the next election.Straw can't have relished the embarrassment of a challenge from an emotional father over the imprisonment of his son for a crime he didn't commit.But there's always the small matter of due process.Despite his pardon, Mr Shields's conviction for attempted murder in Bulgaria still stands. The barman who was almost killed has a right to know the identity of his assailant. If it was Graham Sankey, he deserves to be tried in a Bulgarian court and punished.If our Government is prepared to free a convicted prisoner in controversial circumstances, which smack of political opportunism and without giving a convincing explanation in public, why should any country agree to repatriate any British citizen convicted on foreign soil until their sentence has been served in full.I'm not holding up Bulgaria as a model of judicial rectitude, but does anyone seriously believe - after the Lockerbie fiasco, in particular - that Britain is any better these days, thanks to Labour?I repeat, I am prepared to believe Michael Shields when he says he is innocent. He certainly has reasonable doubt on his side. At the very least he deserved an appeal or a retrial with Sankey's confession on the table.His supporters would argue that justice has been done. But, whatever the 'justice' secretary says, it hasn't been seen to be done
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The Lawers in BULGARIA are just CORRUPTED, if you pay you"re free, if you don't PAY, YOU GO TO JAIL!!!
THIS IS ABOUT BULGARIA !!!
JuriTzolov 2 months ago
why did he get released if he performed illegal brain surgery on Martin Georgiev?
RyGil91 2 years ago
it dont matter were he was from that lad did not deserve what he got been over there with them smelly fucking twat's remember were your from !!!!!! fucking turn coat's
ellie3011 2 years ago
well said lad he's english and proud fuck what these fucking smelly cunt's are saying god save the queen
ellie3011 2 years ago
fucking smelly cunt's get to fucking your kid's
ellie3011 2 years ago
bulgairans can you still marry your donkey or have you changed the law you are in the e u now .
roadend78 2 years ago
fuck the uk and your shitty queen! you can go fuck yoursleves...
balkanregion 2 years ago
You LFC are an idiot. Michael Shields and his look alikes come to Bulgaria , act like fools , drink like pigs and expect everyone to bow before them. He is just a stupid , nasty , arrogant english bastard ! I hope he goes to HELL and every other freak that defends such scum.
ykabile 2 years ago
You English fagots stop kissing his ass.Go suck some niga dicks or something,the bartender knows who attacked him.This freak of nature,deserves to die in jail.
KpEMuKoBcu 2 years ago
I think everyone is of the attitude that someone else admitted that he committed the crime.
creematthew 2 years ago