Jailed Liverpool fan Michael Shields won an important High Court battle today in his bid for a free pardon.

Two senior judges ruled that Justice Secretary Jack Straw did have the "power and jurisdiction" to exercise the ancient "royal prerogative of mercy" in the case of Shields, who was convicted abroad but transferred to a UK prison to finish his sentence.

But the judges also ruled that it was for Mr Straw alone - and not the courts - to decide how to exercise that power.

The ruling means Shields does not have an automatic right to his freedom.

Shields, now 22, is serving 10 years for the attempted murder of a barman at the Big Ben diner in Varna, Bulgaria, in 2005.

MPs, clergymen, Liverpool FC players and many others have backed the call to free him on the basis that he is innocent.

Mr Straw’s legal team argued at a recent High Court hearing in London that there was no jurisdiction to grant Shields a free pardon.

They warned that, if the Justice Secretary did intervene, the move could be seen as criticism of the foreign court that found Shields guilty.

But Justice May and Mr Justice Maddison, sitting in London, said: "We declare that he does have such power and jurisdiction."

The judges stressed that it was not for the court to say "whether or how that power may be exercised".

The judges ruled the Justice Secretary did have power under Article 12 of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons 1983 "to consider at least granting pardon to Michael Shields on the facts presented to this court''.