Bulgarians must agree to free Shields

Feb 29 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

MICHAEL SHIELDS cannot be unilaterally released from prison by the British Government, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said last night.

On a visit to the Community Justice Centre (CJC) in Kirkdale yesterday, Mr Straw said the decision had to be made in conjunction with the Bulgarian authorities.

During his tour, Mr Straw praised the centre in Boundary Road, saying the grass-roots style justice handed out from the CJC was partly responsible for a 25% fall in crime in the past year in the surrounding area.

Mr Straw's visit to the centre comes two weeks after he travelled to Brooklyn, in New York, to see the Red Hook Community Centre on which Liverpool's was modelled.

Mr Straw said of the Shields case: “I (as Foreign Secretary at the time) have been involved in his case since Michael was first arrested.

“I am very much aware of the details of the case.”

However, he said he had explained to the family's representatives that the Government could not release Shields without the agreement of Bulgaria and that the UK had to “observe the agreed legal obligations we are under”.

The 21-year-old was convicted of attacking barman Martin Georgiev in Bulgaria after Liverpool’s 2005 Champion’s League final, but has always protested his innocence.

He is currently serving his prison sentence in HM Garth Prison, near Preston.

Mr Straw said that, if he agreed to release Shields, it would lead to a precedent where foreign governments would not agree to let British citizens convicted of crimes abroad serve out their sentences in the UK.

“That would be very unhelpful for the interests of British people.

“That said, I understand fully the concerns of the family and I am trying to do all I can.

“I have raised the matter myself directly with the Bulgarian minister of justice and I hope to again shortly.”