23/11/2006

Jailed football fan to return to Britain

A Liverpool football fan who was jailed in Bulgaria for the attempted murder of a barman, is returning to Britain.

Michael Shields, 20, is being sent to Wandsworth prison.

His family held a fundraising campaign in order to raise £90,000 for a fine in order to authorise his transfer to the UK.

Shields was jailed for 15-years for the attempted murder of barman Martin Georgiev in May 2005.

The sentence was reduced to ten years, following an appeal.

Mr Georgiev had a concrete block dropped on his head in the Black Sea resort of Varna in May 2005.

Shields, who had been on holiday in Bulgaria at the time of the attack, has always maintained that he is innocent, saying that he was asleep in his hotel at the time of the incident.

Another Liverpool man, 20-year-old Graham Sankey, made a written confession to the attack, although his solicitor later claimed that Mr Sankey was referring to a different brawl.

(KMcA/EF)


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