Graham Sankey, the man who confessed hitting Bulgarian bartender Martin Georgiev with a stone on the head, was close to nervous breakdown, his lawyer said.

Sankey failed appearing before court in England for a hearing to ban him from attending matches, BBC reported.

According to confession previously made Sankey attacked Georgiev in the summer of 2005. Sankey stayed in Bulgaria after attending a Liverpool match in Turkey.

Bulgarian police detained Michael Shields, another Liverpool fan staying in Bulgaria, on charges of attacking Georgiev.

Shields was sentenced to 15 years in prison for premeditated murder attempt. Later, the sentence was taken down to 10 years.

Bulgarian court refused to count Sankey’s confession as evidence, since it was not made in a Bulgarian legal institution.

Sankey’s attorney blamed media coverage of the case for the poor condition his client was in, BBC reported.

Lawyer David Kirwan said the incident Sankey got involved in could be separate from the one Shields was sentenced for.

Shields continues claiming he was innocent. Yet, the main evidence against Sankey was his own confession, magistrates said.