UK justice secretary Jack Straw says that he is keeping an open mind about his final decision on whether to pardon Michael Shields and is prepared to examine any further evidence presented to him in the case of the Liverpudlian convicted of the attempted murder of Bulgarian bartender Martin Georgiev.
 
Straw was speaking in a debate in Westminster Hall, called by Riverside member of parliament Louise Ellman, a member of the campaign that insists that Shields was wrongfully convicted.
 
Shields was found guilty on the basis of eyewitness evidence of the attempted murder of Georgiev. The incident took place when Shields was part of a group of Liverpool supporters who visited Varna on their way back from the football team’s victory in a Champions League match in Istanbul in 2005.
 
Bulgaria’s highest courts rejected appeals against the conviction, the European court of human rights declined to reject the ruling, and Straw – who has authority in regard to royal pardons – earlier this month provisionally declined to grant one, saying that he had not been persuaded that Shields was "morally and technically innocent" of the crime.
 
The pro-Shields campaign proceeds undeterred. Recent events included a July 11 2009 service in an Anglican cathedral in Liverpool in support of Shields, and Liverpool players wearing armbands reading "Justice" when going on stage during a play entitled One Night in Liverpool, about the football team’s 2005 victory. Local media reported that a motorbike convoy in support of Shields was also planned.
 
The Liverpool Daily Post quoted Ellman as telling the Westminster debate that a Merseyside police inquiry, the findings of which were given to Straw, had found a witness who said that Bulgarian police had arrested the wrong person.
 
"I was able to see that Michael was a big lad and has blond hair. The lad in the white T-shirt who dropped the brick was short and dark," this witness, known as "Mr A" was quoted as saying.
 
The BBC quoted Straw as telling the debate that he was aware of the "great anger" at his provisional decision not to pardon Shields of the crime.
 
Straw said that he does his best in these cases to apply himself to the evidence and "...simply as a human being it would have been easier all round for me if I had been able to come to the alternative conclusion".
 
He insisted he had an "open mind" as he approached his final decision, and was ready to examine any further evidence submitted to him.
 
Shields' campaign team have 28 days to make representations and challenge the decision.
 
On July 15, the Liverpool Echo (no relation to The Sofia Echo) said that the Criminal Cases Review Commission had told Shields’s legal team it would be prepared to consider the case if Straw refused to grant a pardon.
 
If usual practice is followed, Shields would be released on parole pending the outcome of the review.