Conviction of Michael Shields

Michael Shields (born 21 September, 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 Liverpool 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 struck Georgiev in the head with an almost 4 kg (8 lb) stone.

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,

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. Despite the overhwelming evidence of his guilt Shield's supporters have branded the Bulgarian court decision as 'unfair' and proclaimed him to be innocent. In a concurrent campaign they are also running a sponsored whist drive to raise awareness of the “lighter side of Adolf Hitler”. As yet unsubstantiated reports suggest that there was a move to raise funds for secure David Irvine's release from an Austrian prison cell which foundered on Scouse distrust of anyone who suggested that “work would make them free”. 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 . The Bulgarian government refused to acknowledge Sankey's confession unless he returned to Bulgaria to be questioned. Sankey was not prepared to do this and then retracted his confession. 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. He didn't know or have any connections to Sankey. The police woke him up and told him to change into a white T-shirt and then took him to the police station. 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. It is therefore no surprise that he was later picked out by several witnesses.

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).

"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.

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.

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

On 4 December 2006, a sell-out concert took place at the Liverpool Empire Theatre. Girl band Atomic Kitten reformed for the concert, which also saw The X Factor finalist Eton Road, singer Gloria Gaynor, comedian Ricky Tomlinson, Mike McCartney and The Searchers performing.