Mother collapses as Jack Straw rejects Michael Shields pardon
Jul 3 2009 Liverpool Daily Post
Mother collapses as Jack Straw rejects pardon for LFC fan Michael Shields
JUSTICE Secretary Jack Straw last night said he understood the “strong emotions” felt by the family of Michael Shields, after refusing him a pardon due to the “rule of law”.
Shields, of Edge Hill, was jailed for 15 years in Bulgaria, in 2005, for the attempted murder of a barman following Liverpool FC’s Champions League triumph in Turkey.
His mother, Marie Shields, collapsed after hearing the news and later described Mr Straw’s decision as “like a knife in the back.”
Mr Straw stressed his decision – in which he concluded he was unable to decide whether the 22-year-old was “morally and technically innocent” – was provisional.
“I understand, of course, the strong emotions felt by the Shields family and his many supporters in Liverpool and way beyond Liverpool,” said Mr Straw. “What I ask people in return is that you have to operate in this country by the rule of law.”
Mr Straw, speaking at the Ministry of Justice in London, said he would be prepared to meet the Shields family and said his legal team now had a month to put forward more evidence.
“Of course, I am open to further representations from Mr Shields and I am seeking them,” he said.
Shields was jailed for the attempted murder of Bulgarian waiter Martin Georgiev.
He was in the Golden Sands resort, near the Port of Varna, to celebrate the club’s Champions League triumph when Mr Georgiev’s skull was smashed by a thug with a paving slab.
Despite another Liverpool man, Graham Sankey, signing a confession – later withdrawn – and an international outcry about a miscarriage of justice, he was locked up and transferred to Britain for the rest of his sentence.
Father, Michael senior, said: “We are absolutely devastated by today’s announcement from Jack Straw.
“After four years of tireless campaigning, we had every hope and belief that Michael was about to be pardoned for a crime he did not commit. I have spoken to Michael and he is absolutely distraught.
“We have been led a merry dance by the Government.
“We have been kept completely in the dark and still have no idea what is happening.
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