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Michael Shields (born 1987 in Liverpool, England) is a football fan who gained notoriety when, on May 30, 2005, he was arrested in the Black Sea resort of Golden Sands, Bulgaria after a violent city brawl during which a Bulgarian citizen was nearly killed. He was later found guilty, in a Bulgarian court, of the attempted murder of a young local barman, Martin Georgiev.

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.

The Incident

According to numerous witness accounts, a group of 10 or so drunk English football fans went on the rampage in the small seaside town in the early hours of the morning. When Georgiev came out of his cafe 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 forcibly smashed an almost 4 kg (8 lb) stone on his head.

No fewer than nine witnesses later testified in court, 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.

Controversy

'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. His supporters have branded the Bulgarian court decision as 'unfair' and proclaimed Michael Shields to be innocent.

Their arguments focus primarily on a confession by another English football fan, Graham Sankey. It has been argued however that Sankey's confession bears little if any resemblance to the attack on Georgiev, as described by witness accounts. They also ignore the fact that Sankey was actually arrested after the attack, put on an identification parade, but released immediately after witnesses failed to identify him. Shields was picked out by several witnesses.

Graham Sankey later retracted his 'confession'.

The campaigners have organised quite a few public events to promote their cause (as e.g. forming a live 'Free Michael' mosaic spanning an entire stand during a local sports event).

A benefit concert for the Michael Shields appeal will be held at the Liverpool Empire Theatre on December 4, 2006 and will include Atomic Kitten among others.

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. The documentary made several claims supporting the theory that Shields is innocent. They include:

• Graham Sankey, who later confessed to the crime, was the first man arrested by Bulgarian police.
• Police returned to the hotel in order to question Sankey's friend Anthony Wilson. When Wilson was missing from his room, police arrested Shields, who was in the adjacent room, though he had no relation to Sankey's group.
• The Bulgarian police ordered Shields to wear a white t-shirt before arresting him. Eye-witnesses had identified the assailant as wearing a white t-shirt.
• The police first drove Shields to the scene of the attack in a marked police car, where eye-witnesses may have been present. When they took Shields to the police station for an identity parade, they left him handcuffed in the foyer, where he was seen by eye-witnesses who would later be asked to identify him.
• In the identity parade, Shields was the only man wearing a white t-shirt, and was the only man with a northern European appearance.
• The eye-witnesses were placed in a room together, and were allowed to discuss their opinions with each other.
• The eye-witnesses, including the victim himself, were inconsistent on the issue of whether Shields was the first assailant or the second.
• Shields was convicted purely on the strength of eye-witness identification.
• The Bulgarian authorities dismissed the evidence of Shields' roommates, who placed him asleep in bed at the time of the attack, and later dismissed the confession of Graham Sankey.

Many of these claims go against what is recorded in the Bulgarian court documents. Many of the claims appear either simply untrue , or are not crucial for the case (for instance the witness accounts discrepancies as to whether the attacker raised the stone to breast or head-level before smashing it on the victim's head, or whether he was the first or second person to attack the Bulgarian victim). At the same time, numerous pieces of evidence incriminating Michael Shields that came to light at the trial were not mentioned in the film.

The documentary has been criticised for being overly emotional and completely biased.

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 installments in the nearest future.

References

1. "Liverpool fans held in Bulgaria". Article on BBC News. Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
2. "The English fan was convicted of... police inaction?". lex.bg (In Bulgarian). Retrieved 16 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
3. "Innocent, gentle giant? Or remorseless thug guilty of attempted murder?". Article in the Telegraph. Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
4. "The Englishmen were hurling full beer-bottles at each other, say witnesses". Article on netinfo.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
5. "Shields was culprit, says barman". BBC News.
6. ^ Official Free Michael Shields Site
7. "Liverpool fan jailed in Bulgaria". Article on BBC News. Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
8. "Sankey: I didn't do it". Article in the Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
9. Official Liz McClarnon blog October 27, 2006 (Accessed October 28, 2006)
10. "Motives for the Verdict". vcourts.org (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
11. "Motives for the Appeal Decision". dnesplus.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
12. "No balance in jailed fan documentary". Article in The Sunday Business Post. Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
13. "Cash bid to return jailed fan". Article in The Mirror. Retrieved 6 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

• People from Liverpool