North West

Liverpool supporters will never forget the night in Istanbul in May 2005 when their team lifted the Champions League trophy against AC Milan.

But for one Liverpool supporter - Michael Shields - it was the start of a nightmare which is still going on.

Dream turned sour

Michael's story starts in the Bulgarian resort of Varna on the Black Sea coast.

In May 2005 thousands of Liverpool fans converged on the town as a stopping-off point as they made their way to the Champions League Final in Istanbul.

For most it was simply more affordable to get a package holiday flight to Bulgaria and travel the rest of the way overland to Turkey than fly direct to Istanbul.

The match itself was to prove one of the most memorable European Champions League finals in recent years. Liverpool staged a dramatic comeback after being 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties.

There were amazing scenes in Liverpool when thousands of supporters welcomed the team home.

Dream ticket - Liverpool celebrate.

But while most fans celebrated in Liverpool, others stayed on in Bulgaria. Michael Shields was one of them.

On the last night he and hundreds of Liverpool supporters spent the evening drinking in the bars and cafés in Golden Sands.

But what should have been a night of celebration turned into one of confrontation and violence.

There had been trouble involving some Liverpool fans during that night with fights and bottles being thrown.

Martin Georgiev came out of Big Ben's diner where he was working to see what was going on.

He was attacked and flung down on to the ground. "I fell down on the ground, then the person continued hitting me. He came back with a stone, throw it and that's the last thing I remember," he says.

Martin suffered severe head injuries - a crushed skull and a brain haemorrhage.

Plea of innocence

The attack had been witnessed by dozens of people and within hours the police had arrested four suspects - all of them Liverpool fans staying in the town.

One of them was Michael Shields.

From the outset Michael Shields pleaded his innocence - insisting he'd been asleep in his room when the attack took place.

His mother, Maria Shields, couldn't believe it when she heard the news.

But at an identification parade Michael was picked out by witnesses and was identified as the person who threw the rock.

Miscarriage of justice?

Following a trial in Bulgaria, Michael Shields was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

This was later reduced to 10 years on appeal. Michael was also ordered to pay £93,000 compensation to Martin Georgiev.

Nightmare journey - Michael Shields.

After spending over a year in jail in Bulgaria, Michael Shields was allowed to return to the UK to serve the rest of his sentence.

He's currently at Garth Prison in Lancashire.

Inside Out has been granted permission to visit him and hear his side of the story.

He remembers his shock when he was taken to the court and charged in Bulgaria:

"The woman whispered in my ear, 'attempted murder'. I said 'what do you mean attempted murder?'... She said, '15 to 20 years, 20 years to life, no parole'.

"They took me back down. I was shell-shocked, thinking 'what’s happening over here?"

Alibi?

We met one of the people Michael was with that evening.

Geoff Hughes met Michael while they were in Bulgaria and tells us he was with him on the night of the incident.

"We were out having a good time and we were that bladdered. Me and Michael were in the club together and decided to go back - we'd have a drink in the hotel.

"So we went back to the hotel and we had a bottle of vodka in my room... There was a load of other fans still there having a drink in the hotel and Michael decided he was too drunk and wanted to go to bed."

He says that the lad who was sharing a room with Michael eventually went upstairs and found Michael "spark out - nothing was waking him up".

"We were all sitting there laughing at him, snoring his brains out."

Later that night Geoff claims he saw Michael again and he was sound asleep in the room.

When he heard Michael had been arrested, Geoff was shocked: "I was saying, 'I know for a fact that he didn't do it because I had seen him. I was with him'."

Confession retracted

One of the others arrested along with Michael Shields was Graham Sankey.

He was released without charge by the Bulgarian police and was never called to give evidence.

But during the course of the trial, he came forward and made a statement confessing:

"I remember seeing a disturbance and a fight was taking place …I panicked and stupidly picked up a brick and threw it in the direction of the man running towards me. I saw the brick hit one of them. I panicked and I turned and ran away and returned to the hotel. I did not know at that time that Mr Martin Georgiev had been injured."

Behind bars - Michael Shields.

But the statement was rejected as inadmissible by the Varna Appeal Court because Graham Sankey was never called to give evidence.

Inside Out wanted to ask Sankey why he'd confessed to the attack on Martin Georgiev and later retracted his statement.

But he declined to comment.

In April 2008 he was jailed for five months after pleading guilty to racially aggravated harassment of a doorman outside a bar in Liverpool city centre.

Eye-witness account

One eyewitness, who doesn't wanted to be identified, claims he saw the man who threw the rock at Martin Georgiev's head.

There were a number of lads throwing bottles and causing a commotion, he recalls.

"Martin Georgiev came out of the chip shop and starts saying, 'we don't want any trouble'...

"I don't know whether they were English or not...  a lad, one of the group, just comes bolting across the road. Then just as he got level with him, he just hit him. He just knocked him flat out one punch, knocked out.

"Martin fell face down on the floor, knocked out completely."

The eye witness is convinced it was Sankey that threw the rock: "I'm very convinced, after seeing him in the hotel and then, you know, across the road. He was only 20 yards away across the road when I seen him..."

In his view there had been a miscarriage of justice: "I couldn't believe it. How could they get it wrong?... we'd been back to the Big Ben's the next day and there was a fellow that worked in there who spoke perfect English.

"He said, 'yeah, we seen who it was - it was like the fat lad with the dark hair'.

Our eye witness says he'd be willing to sign a sworn statement with this account.

Vital witness?

North West MEP Arlene McCarthy has been lobbying the Bulgarian Government to re-open the case.

Inside Out travelled to Bulgaria to look for new witnesses who could throw fresh light on what happened.

We also received a response from the Bulgarian Government to a request for information.

Miglena Tacheva, the Minister for Justice, says that Bulgaria cannot and will not re-open the case, but significantly it states:

"The release from prison of Mr Shields could be therefore executed by the competent authorities of the UK under the Article 12 of the Convention which permits the application of the administering State's legislation."

Searching for the truth - the Shields.

During our visit there was a dramatic development. Our Bulgarian fixer Andrey traced a crucial new witness - an employee at the hotel where Michael was staying.

Our witness told us he remembered Michael Shields but not the time he arrived back with his mates.

"I remember that they were drunk... but if you asked me about the time they came back, right now I would not be able to tell you any exact time...

"I also remember that Michael came to the reception and asked for his key and that he was also very drunk."

He remembers seeing Graham Sankey early in the morning and says he was also visibly drunk.

The victim's story

Martin Georgiev has agreed to an exclusive interview for Inside Out - it's the first time he's broken his silence since the trial.

Since the attack Martin's life has changed dramatically and he says that he's not able to do most of the things he used to do.

He remembers that on the night of the attack, he witnessed trouble and came out of  Big Ben's cafe to calm things down.

He's convinced it was Michael Shields.

"Absolutely certain. And it's not only me it's like 20, 22, 23 witnesses that saw the incident. All of them say 100% that it's him."

Fighting to clear his name

But Michael Shields remains adamant that he had nothing to do with the attack: "One hundred per cent I had nothing to do with what happened that night. I mean, anyone who was there knows what happened.

"Most of the people who were in that hotel know what happened, so it’s not just me saying it. It’s a lot of people saying it."

Today Michael is still fighting to clear his name: "I mean I've got a criminal record for something that I never done... I don’t want to carry on for the rest of my life with that."

Inside Out has managed to secure an exclusive interview with Jack Straw to discuss Michael Shields's case and the new developments contained in the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice letter.

Jack Straw - personal interest...

Jack Straw told us: "I do not want to raise false hopes for Michael and for the family but I take this letter very seriously and I am seeking urgent advice from senior counsel, QC, about whether or not given what the Bulgarians are now saying, there is a power, exceptionally, to effect Michael’s release.

Jack Straw - new developments...

"But I know that there have been many false dawns on this case. I understand the frustration of Michael and the family but I do have to work within the law, and that includes both our domestic law and practice and international law, and I can’t do any other than that but I am going to explore every avenue."

His message to the Shields family is:

"I understand your frustration, not to say anger, about the delays in the case... but I have been involved in Michael’s case since the start and I take the matter very seriously indeed, and I’m handling it personally."

It seems that another chapter in the Michael Shields' case is about to unfold...