Conviction of Michael Shields

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For the British body snatcher of the same name, see London Burkers.

Michael Shields (born 21 September 1986 in Liverpool, England) is a football fan who gained notoriety when, on May 30, 2005, a Bulgarian Citizen named Martin Georgiev was nearly killed with a paving slab in the Black Sea resort of Golden Sands, Bulgaria after a violent city brawl.^[1] Shields was later found guilty, in a Bulgarian court, of Georgiev's attempted murder. In the UK, there is popular doubt over the safety of the verdict of the Bulgarian court as expressed in certain newspapers, because although several eyewitness pointed Shields out as the perpetrator, while in the police station he was handcuffed to a radiator in full view of the public before the identity parade took place and his face was shown on television prior to the trial.^{[citation needed]}

Michael Shields has launched two appeals against his conviction, in 2005 and 2006, but they both failed and the original verdict was reaffirmed. His prison term was, however, reduced from 15 to 10 years after the second appeal and he is due for release in 2010.^[2]

1 The incident
2 Controversy
- 2.1 'Justice' campaign
- 2.2 "The Forgotten Fan"
3 Rejected appeal
4 Return to Britain
5 References
6 External links

[edit] The incident

According to numerous witness accounts, a group of 10 or so drunk Liverpool football fans went on the rampage in the small seaside town in the early hours of the morning. When Georgiev came out of the cafe in which he worked as a barman to investigate, he was knocked down, kicked and punched repeatedly by at least three people while he was lying on the ground, before one of the hooligans struck Georgiev in the head with an almost 4,5 kg (9 lb) stone.^[3]^[4] Nine witnesses later testified in court and many of whom — including Georgiev himself — positively identified Michael Shields as a person present at the crime scene and as the perpetrator of the crime,

[edit] Controversy

[edit] 'Justice' campaign

Since Shields' conviction on 26 July 2005, a vocal campaign in support of Michael Shields has been launched in Liverpool, and is supported by many fans of Liverpool FC. Shield's supporters have branded the Bulgarian court decision as 'unfair' and proclaimed him to be innocent.

After hearing of Shields' arrest in Bulgaria, Graham Sankey, another English football fan now back in the UK, confessed to attacking Georgiev. Sankey has no connection to Shields or his family but has been arrested in the past for violence, on a number of occasions.^[5] The court refused to acknowledge Sankey's confession unless he returned to Bulgaria or to apper in British court room by video connection to Bulgarian court to be questioned. Sankey was not prepared to do this and then retracted his confession. The Sankey's confession did not cover with the facts determined by investigation too.^[6] Sankey was originally arrested after the attack, put on an identification parade, but released. The police went to the hotel where Sankey was staying to arrest Sankey again but he had already checked out of his room. The police moved to the adjacent room where Michael Shields was sleeping. The police woke him up and told him to change into a white T-shirt and then took him to the police station.^[7] Shields was then handcuffed to a radiator in the entrance of the police station for several hours in full view of the public and witnesses^{[citation needed]} and was later picked out by several witnesses.

The campaigners organised public events to promote their cause (as e.g. forming a live 'Free Michael' mosaic spanning an entire stand at Liverpool's first home game of the 2005/2006 season against Sunderland^[8]).

[edit] "The Forgotten Fan"

On April 18, 2006 the Free Michael Shields campaign received a boost when the documentary "The Forgotten Fan" was aired on ITV — a British television channel.

[edit] Rejected appeal

In 2007 Shields' case for an appeal against his conviction for attempted murder was rejected by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Three judges ruled that his rights were not violated during his trial and conviction in Bulgaria.^[9]

[edit] Return to Britain

On 19 August 2006 it was reported in the British press that Shields would soon be allowed to return to Britain to serve the remainder of his sentence after part of the court-imposed £90,000 compensation had been paid to the victim, with the remainder to be transferred in monthly instalments in the nearest future.^[10]

On 23 November 2006, Shields returned to the UK and was placed in HMP Hindley in Wigan.

On 26 April 2008, The Bulgarian authorities have agreed to allow the UK to pardon Michael Shields.^[11]