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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Jailed football fan on way to UK | Jailed football fan on way to UK |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Liverpool football fan Michael Shields, who was jailed in Bulgaria for the attempted murder of a barman, is returning to the UK. | |
| Shields is due to fly in to Gatwick airport on Thursday evening to complete his sentence in a UK jail. | |
| Shields was given 10 years after a concrete block was dropped on the barman in 2005. He has always denied any involvement. | Shields was given 10 years after a concrete block was dropped on the barman in 2005. He has always denied any involvement. |
| Bulgarian officials allowed him to return after a £90,000 fine was paid. | Bulgarian officials allowed him to return after a £90,000 fine was paid. |
| Shields' solicitor told the BBC his client is flying back to the UK and would be taken to Wandsworth Prison. | Shields' solicitor told the BBC his client is flying back to the UK and would be taken to Wandsworth Prison. |
| Reacting to the news, his mother Maria Shields told BBC News: "It's a relief that we are getting him home to England, but our next step is to the Court of Human Rights to take his case there. | Reacting to the news, his mother Maria Shields told BBC News: "It's a relief that we are getting him home to England, but our next step is to the Court of Human Rights to take his case there. |
| We must continue the campaign for justice and an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is being filed Louise Ellman MP | |
| "It is just so sad that he's being brought to a prison, he should be being brought to his home." | |
| Mrs Shields thanked the people of Liverpool and around the world who had supported the campaign to get their son transferred. | |
| "If it wasn't for the majority of people helping us we would never have been able to bring Michael home," she added. | "If it wasn't for the majority of people helping us we would never have been able to bring Michael home," she added. |
| His father, also called Michael, said he was relieved his son was finally returning home but saddened that he would be placed behind bars. | |
| He said: "He has spent too much time behind bars already and the fight will not stop here, we will continue to campaign to get my son free." | |
| Miss Ellman, the Shields' local MP, described his transfer as a "major step forward" and paid tribute to the co-operation between the Bulgarian and British authorities. | |
| "We must continue the campaign for justice and an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is being filed," she said. | |
| Written confession | Written confession |
| Miss Ellman said there remained huge question marks over the way the Shields case was handled by the courts in Bulgaria, but it could take up to two years for the case to be dealt with. | |
| Shields, 20, from Edge Hill, was jailed for the attempted murder of barman Martin Georgiev, who had a paving slab dropped on his head in the Black Sea resort of Varna in May 2005. | Shields, 20, from Edge Hill, was jailed for the attempted murder of barman Martin Georgiev, who had a paving slab dropped on his head in the Black Sea resort of Varna in May 2005. |
| He has always protested his innocence and told the court he was asleep at the time of the incident. | He has always protested his innocence and told the court he was asleep at the time of the incident. |
| Another Liverpool man, 20-year-old Graham Sankey, made a written confession to the attack, although his solicitor now insists his client was referring to a different brawl. | Another Liverpool man, 20-year-old Graham Sankey, made a written confession to the attack, although his solicitor now insists his client was referring to a different brawl. |
| The £90,000 fine which Bulgarian authorities had requested in order to authorise his transfer to the UK was paid in October, after a high-profile fundraising campaign by Shields' family and supporters. | The £90,000 fine which Bulgarian authorities had requested in order to authorise his transfer to the UK was paid in October, after a high-profile fundraising campaign by Shields' family and supporters. |