Well how do I start this.. I am so pleased for this boy  now a man, lost 4 and half year of his life for a crime he didnt commit.. just been watching him on the local news I have to say I had my doubts in the early days , thinking typical football hooligan but over the year come to realise this lad is innocent ....I have to admit I have had a little cry watching him chat on the news  thankfully his family knew he was innocent and stuck by him through thick and thin ....good luck to him in the future.

I agree Ive kept up with his story and I think, well, im positive he was innocent, he is the same age as one of my boys.
I hope he can move on go back to uni and pick up his life. This should never have happened.

Good on ya Mr Straw something right at last.

there is no proof he did not commit the crime.

there is a signed confession by the man who did do it...
his name is Graham Sankey......

> there is a signed confession by the man who did do it...

there is a signed confession by a man who retracted it afterwards and told the police and the pres he was presured by several members of shields family into making the statement thinking graham sankey would be tried here and michael will be released from bulgaria. nobody knows where mr sankey now is as he is too scared to return.
apart from the fact that several members of shields family has criminal records i can not see what is so unbelievable about a bunch of young lads, drunk after a football match getting too rowdy and having a fight and this happening. it has been played into the hearts of liverpool fans who will suport him.

If he had been a Superstore fan he would never have been charged in the first place !

> there is a signed confession by a man who retracted it afterwards and told the police and the pres he was presured by several members of shields family into making the statement thinking graham sankey would be tried here and michael will be released from bulgaria. nobody knows where mr sankey now is as he is too scared to return.
> apart from the fact that several members of shields family has criminal records i can not see what is so unbelievable about a bunch of young lads, drunk after a football match getting too rowdy and having a fight and this happening. it has been played into the hearts of liverpool fans who will suport him

Well that's a surprise ! Can you tell me how you know that this young man did the attack ? Because he went to watch Liverpool play ? It isn'y just Liverpool fans that have been supporting him, there was no evidence & as for his family having criminal records, are you assuming that it was these family members that went to see him & that they & the independent witnesses that were present are all lying ??

"What if I hadn't been in the hotel room when police knocked? What if, when they asked me to go to the station to give a statement, I refused? What if I hadn't let myself be handcuffed to a radiator as witnesses walked past?

"What if I'd demanded a lawyer when they put me in an ID parade? What if I'd had a fair judge?"

His answer? "I was naive. Anyone who'd been in trouble with the police would never have gone along with it. But I hadn't, so I trusted them."

When waiter Martin Georgiev was attacked five days after the 2005 Istanbul final and police went to Shields' hotel to find the culprit, he was the perfect patsy for a set-up.

They made him wear a T-shirt similar to the attacker's and ordered him to go to the station, parading him before witnesses on the way.

He says: "The next thing I'm in an ID parade with three Bulgarians wearing the same jumper

"I thought, 'This is a joke. When they realise I was in bed they'll release me'." Instead they charged him with attempted murder. In court, Georgiev sat three feet away. Michael says: "I whispered his name, saying 'Get up there and tell the truth.' But he kept looking away."

Despite no DNA, forensic or CCTV evidence and four witnesses swearing he had been sleeping, Michael got 15 years and a fine that rose to £90,000

New witnesses came forward. There were two unsuccessful appeals but in April 2006 the sentence was cut to 10 years.

i did not say i KNEW he had done it. however he was tried and found guilty of the attack.
there was a statement on the news stating that his family members had been to "talk him into it"
and the fact he is a liverpool fan is not the point i was making the fact i was making was
a group of young lads drunk abroad at a football match its not inconcievable that he could have done it.
bulgaria allowed him to be transferred here as long as he finished his sentence (however it is then up to straw to decide to uphold that)
had it been the other way round and a bulgarian had come here and comitted an offence and was tried and found guilty and we agreed to let him go back to serve the rest of his sentence there we would not be happy if they were then released.

i support Derby County and i believe he is innocent i dont actually like Liverpool FC but i do  recognise a miscarriage of justice when i see one....

I to am glad he's been released but why it has taken so long.  I hope he's able to settle down after all the publicity etc and make a good life for himself.

What puzzles me is on our local news it reported that he was released due to some new evidence with regards to Graham Sankeys confession (this was how i understood the report anyway) but the confession has been known about for a long time now and as it had been retracted how could there be new evidence.

>> bulgaria allowed him to be transferred here as long as he finished his sentence (however it is then up to straw to decide to uphold that)

Er No The Bulgarian government reduced his sentence & allowed him to return to the UK to serve their sentence, because Liverpool & Everton fans & others paid the £90,000 fine. Nowt to do them being generous & simply allowing to return to his home country.

In the UK he would have been fined OR jailed, he would not have had his sentence reduced by bunging the Government a wedge of dosh

>> What puzzles me is on our local news it reported that he was released due to some new evidence with regards to Graham Sankeys confession (this was how i understood the report anyway) but the confession has been known about for a long time now and as it had been retracted how could there be new evidenc

There were also new Bulgarian witnesses that came forward who indicated that it was not him !

>There were also new Bulgarian witnesses that came forward who indicated that it was not him ! <

Thanks MM :-)  I didn't realise this was the case, just watching Jack Straw speaking about it now.

I am from Liverpool as I think does MahonC and I have to admit have had this case rammed down our throats to the point I never read or listened after a while .

I will admit I did think football -drunk-fighting - he is probably guilty.

It is really only in the last year where I have taken notice read about it  and came to the conclusion that this lad was set up. I dont know whether his famiy is known to the police or not that shouldnt come in to it.

I saw him on the TV last night and today and my heart went out to him , I too have a son of a similar age , this kind of thing could happen to any of us  its quite scary...I think!

I hope he goes onto better things I imagine he will make quite a bit of money from interviews and magazines and hope someone will offer him a job  which will set him up for a better life and  a good future.

R~

The Bulgarians are now blaming Madonna for a boat accident in which 15 people died !!! What a lovely people they have living there !!

there is no proof he did not commit the crime. Nor is there much proof perhaps you didn't    goodness heard it all now :-D ;-)

> there is no proof he did not commit the crime. Nor is there much proof perhaps you didn't&nbsp; &nbsp; goodness heard it all now :-D src="/images/default/sml_lol.png" bmi_touched="1" bmi_title=":-D ... Shift+R improves the quality of this image. CTRL+F5 reloads the whole page." bmi_oldAlt=":-D" bmi_alt ;-) src="/images/default/sml_wnk.png" bmi_touched="1" bmi_title=";-) ... Shift+R improves the quality of this image. CTRL+F5 reloads the whole page." bmi_oldAlt=";-)" bmi_alt

the point is, we dont know the full facts, the bulgarians founf him guilty. simples

>In the UK he would have been fined OR jailed, he would not have had his sentence reduced by bunging the Government a wedge of dosh

actually we do that in this country as well, the courts try and recover proceeds of crime from convicted criminals and basically they are given the choice pay up or serve a longer sentance.  You can of course also be jailed for failing to pay a fine.

It does seem that in this particular case if he had been arrested in this country he would probably never have even got to court.  You always have to remember when going abroad that different standards may apply.

> actually we do that in this country as well, the courts try and recover proceeds of crime from convicted criminals and basically they are given the choice pay up or serve a longer sentance.  You can of course also be jailed for failing to pay a fine.

Er no they are given the sentence by the Court & then the assets can be ceased under existing legislation by SOCA. Judges do not offer to lessen the sentences if the proceeds are recovered-the sentence is for the crime & the proceeds of the crime are forfeit, they can order the proceeds to be recovered, but they do not offer to lower sentences if the criminal offers up the proceeds, but if in the cases of say Benefit fraud, repayment prior to the verdict being passed can be taken into consideration, however IMHE of being a court presenting officer for the then DSS(now DWP)it is very rare that anything is paid back before court cases &/or sentencing.

This case is not the same as a criminal act that results in the criminal gaining monetary gain from their crime & so would not be the sentence here in the UK. Fines & recovery of proceeds from criminal acts are two totally different things

but they can be taken back to court and have their sentence increased if they don't hand over money.  Is that different? in effect they are being told if you give us the money you will get out earlier. see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/4744514.stm for an example

Suggest you look at the date of the court case it was 2005 & the second hearing was in Feb 2006, the crime was committed in 2004

On the 1st April 2006, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was created as a result of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA). The functions of the UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) are now placed within the Proceeds of Crime Department in SOCA.

The case predates the date of the change & he was not being offered a shorter sentence if he paid up, he was being threatened with a longer sentence if he didn't !

You cannot compare this to the Michael Shields case, he was fined & imprisoned & there was no allegations that he had profited from the crime. His sentenced was shortened when Liverpool, Everton supporters & others raised the £90,000 to pay off the fine. This sentence was then reduced to 10 years & he was allowed to return to the UK to serve his sentence.

In the UK if you are found guilty of a crime that has an option of prison sentence or fine &/or community service/probation etc, the defendants are not fined & imprisoned. This sort of sentence(fine & imprisonment(which can be shorten if the fine is paid)) is not part of English & Welsh statue law

Wow Moonmaiden, you certainly know your stuff!

> Wow Moonmaiden, you certainly know your stuff!

yep, certainly knows her way around google

> yep, certainly knows her way around google

Do I really ? After spending 20 years plus in fraud investigation & prosecution I also know my way around British Law well before Google & the Internet were even a twinkle of a thought in the brains of IT inventors.

in that case MM you will know michael shields is still gulity of the crime, he has only had a pardon from the sentence.
also it transpires that the witness was in fact the victim of the crime.