Michael Shields, granted an official pardon by UK justice secretary Jack Straw in September 2009 after his wrongful conviction for attacking Bulgarian barman Martin Georgiev in 2005, has told the Independent newspaper that he still feels let down by the authorities in the aftermath of his release from jail.

Shields was initially jailed in Bulgaria before being transferred to a British prison. Shields' plight attracted the support of local media as well as prominent celebrities and Liverpool football club.

"If someone commits a crime and they get out of prison I know it's not much help but you do get a probation officer and they keep an eye on you. But no one has ever contacted me. I've never had anything from them, no offer of counselling or an offer of a reason why it happened," he says.

Shields, who according to the newspaper, has now found a job working for a property company, said that he tries not to dwell on the injustice he suffered. "I don't think about it. If I do, I get angry and bitter, so I just make myself not think about it," he says.

In particular, Shields says he is still awaiting an apology from both the British and the Bulgarian authorities.

"The thing that wound me up most was getting no apology. I'm definitely still looking for one, and someone has got to give me one. I think I should get two – one from the British Government for doing nothing about it, and one should come from Bulgaria."

In the interview Shields says that, inevitably, he feels he has lost out on many experiences during the four-and-a-half years he spent in jail. "Four-and-a-half years is a long time, especially when you are young. Sometimes when I'm out, someone will say, 'Remember when this happened or then we did this,' and I'll have to say, 'I wasn't there – I was away'. Then I'll be left with bad feelings, though I like to think I'm wiser for it," he says. "There were loads of things I missed – every little thing – but the fact that now I can go and see mates, or Saturday night I can just go for a drink... People take things for granted so much."

According to the interview, Shields is now campaigning for other people wrongfully imprisoned abroad, working with the group Fair Trials Abroad.