Jailed Liverpool fan set for UK return
Thursday, 23 Nov 2006 14:06
Michael Shields has always denied involvement in the brawl
Michael Shields, the Liverpool fan jailed in Bulgaria for attempted murder, is expected to fly back to the UK today.
Shields, 20, has always denied taking part in a brawl last year that left a barman, Martin Georgiev, with severe head injuries.
He claims he was in bed asleep at the time of the incident, during which Mr Georgiev was hit with a paving slab.
Shields was sentenced to ten years in a Bulgarian jail, despite the fact that another man – also from Liverpool – confessed to the crime.
Under a deal brokered by the British government, Shields' family and friends last month raised money to pay a £90,000 fine.
As a result, Shields will now be transferred to serve the rest of his sentence in a British prison.
"I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of the people back home," Shields said in a recent statement posted on the family's campaign site. "Their help has been amazing."
Louse Ellman, the Labour MP who has backed the campaign to free Shields, said she expected him to be back on British soil today.
His family hope that his return to the UK will be the first step in securing his release and plan to take his case to the European court of human rights in order to get the conviction overturned.