in 2005 this 18 year old kid from England went to a football (soccer) match in Bulgaria and after it a bulgarian man was hit over the head with a brick and Michael Shields was arrested, even though he was innocent. The worst part is this: "Another man later confessed to the attack but the evidence was ruled inadmissible at his trial." "In April 2006 Mr Shields' sentence was reduced to 10 years and seven months later he was transferred to the UK to serve the rest of his jail term." "A year later Mr Shields passed a lie detector test and in 2008 two senior High Court judges ruled that Mr Straw did have the "power and jurisdiction" to exercise the ancient royal prerogative of mercy in his case." link "Liverpool football fan Michael Shields, who has been freed after serving four years for attacking a Bulgarian barman, has spoken of his "living hell"." So basically a kid who was completely innocent was about to spend 10 years in prison for "attempted murder" even though the real attacker had admitted to doing it, Michael had passed the lie detector test and was completely innocent. Luckily he got out after 4 and a half years "He said his life had been "shattered by the failure of two legal systems, one here in the UK and one in Bulgaria". " What are your thoughts on this? even though they KNEW he was innocent they kept him in jail, I don't understand how this is possible... I don't care what the legal system says surely it's against human rights etc to accept he's innocent but keep him in jail... :? I know there have been worse cases were people have spent 20+ years and then been released on new found evidence, but the evidence was pretty much here all along, they accept he is innocent but still kept him in there.
How do you know that the person that confessed was the real atacker? There are many MANY points in history where people confess to things they have not done. It's some sort of psychological disorder.
Gamespot's amazing html error messed this post up "Graham Sankey, 20, an electrician from Anfield, Liverpool, said he carried out the attack. Michael Shields was picked out of a line up at a Bulgarian police station by the majority of the locals. Sankey later admitted to lying in his interview. Shields was made to wear a blank white shirt in the line up despite never taking one on holiday with him. Shields was asleep in his hotel room when the incident took place and this is supported by the statement of a hotel porter. Michael has now been sentenced to 15 years in jail and ordered to pay over 70,000 in damages and it is only with your help that we can get the Bulgarian authorities to release him. As much as you cannot condone his actions, Sankey has played his part by sending a confession and now it is up to the public to keep the media attention on the case to continue the fight for justice" Sankey's Confession: (spoiler because it's big) [spoiler] "I GRAHAM SANKEY, wish to make the following confession: On Sunday, May 29 2005 I was in the Bulgarian resort of Golden Sands near to the Port of Varna at about 5am. I unfortunately had far too much to drink; I had been drinking lager for the better part of the day. In the evening I estimate that I drank nearly a full bottle of vodka and I was very, very drunk. I left the PR Club and I was making my way to my hotel. I remember seeing a disturbance and a fight was taking place involving a large number of people, some of whom were wearing red shirts. I could see bottles being thrown and as I drew closer a bottle smashed on the wall behind my head. As I turned to see where the bottle had come from I saw three men running at me with bottles and bricks in their hands. I panicked and stupidly picked up a brick and threw it in the direction of the men running towards me. I saw the brick hit one of them. I panicked and I turned and ran away and returned to the hotel. I did not know at that time that Mr Martin Georgiev had been injured. I was arrested (with others) by the Bulgarian police. The following day I was questioned by an investigator. I was utterly terrified and denied any involvement in the incident. I still did not know about the injuries to Mr Georgiev. I was then released and I discovered that Mr Georgiev had been seriously injured. I then returned to Liverpool. I accept that I must have caused the serious injury to Mr Georgiev. My conscience has been tormenting me ever since. I read in the papers about Michael Shields' trial, and I felt that I could not let an innocent man take the blame for what I had done. So I instructed my solicitor, Mr David Kirwan, to make public my acceptance of responsibility and my willingness to accept fully the consequences of my actions. I expected that the Bulgarian court would accept my admission and free Mr Shields. I was horrified that the court has refused to do this, so I am making this signed confession in the hope that an innocent man will no longer have to take responsibility for what I admit I did. Finally, I want to say that I bitterly regret what I did to Mr Georgiev. I wholeheartedly apologise to him, his family and the Bulgarian authorities. I am only 20 years old, and am appalled that I have ruined Mr Georgiev's life and that Michael Shields, an innocent man, has received blame for what I did. I just wish that I had my time over again." [/spoiler]
I understand your guys scepticism from one article which isn't meant to prove he's innocent, there's tonnes of other articles proving his innocence, it's common knowledge to me and to people from Liverpool (and maybe all of england)
being from liverpool myself, i was always hoping he would be released. in my opinion he was innocent but ofcourse there is no clear proof either way. if he was innocent though, i feel really sorry for him, he isn't going to get them 4 odd years of his life back
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