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UK Justice Minister Jack Straw. Photo by timboucher.com
UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw has refused an appeal for a pardon by jailed football fan Michael Shields.
Shields was jailed for 15 years in Bulgaria in 2005 for the attempted murder of barman Martin Georgiev, who had a rock dropped on his head in Varna. His sentence was later reduced when he was transferred to a UK prison.
Shields, like a number of Liverpool fans, had broken the journey home from Istanbul following Liverpool FC's European Cup victory in Turkey.
In a provisional decision on Thursday, Straw was unable to conclude the 22-year-old was "morally and technically innocent", a Ministry of Justice spokesman said.
Liverpool city councillor Joe Anderson, who has spearheaded the drive to free the Reds fan, said: "We have only just heard and I am on my way to see Michael's parents to discuss it."
The Ministry of Justice said a High Court judgment in December last year set a "very high" bar for granting what is known as a free pardon.
The Justice Ministry spokesman said: "Straw has made his decision in accordance with the High Court judgment of 17 December 2008 which indicated that, in order to grant a free pardon, he would have to be satisfied that Shields was morally and technically innocent.
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THE decision by Jack Straw to free a Liverpool fan convicted of attempted murder in Bulgaria has been thrown into doubt by serious flaws in another man's "confession" to the crime.
The British Ambassador to Bulgaria, Steve Williams, confirmed he had supplied Bulgarian authorities with new evidence about Michael Shields' innocence.
Michael Shields is not going to sue Bulgaria but still insist on receiving an apology, Shields' father declared.
The pardoning and release of Michael Shields has received a very mixed reception in Bulgaria this week and although the Liverpool public might not understand why, a mixed reception is the best the UK Justice Minister could have expected.
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