Legal boost for free Shields bid

The 22-year-old was moved to a British prison in 2006

Jailed Liverpool fan Michael Shields has been granted a judicial review of Justice Secretary Jack Straw's refusal to issue a pardon on his conviction.

Shields is serving a 10-year sentence for the attempted murder of a barman in Bulgaria, but maintains his innocence.

Bulgarian officials have said his release rests with authorities in the UK, where he is serving his sentence.

The UK government disagrees, but on Friday a High Court judge decided the case should be heard by judges.

Mr Straw had told the 22-year-old's supporters he had no jurisdiction to consider either a pardon or an early release - and insisted it was down to Bulgarian authorities.

The review will challenge his ruling regarding "the power to grant a pardon to repatriated prisoners wrongly convicted in a foreign jurisdiction".

I hope that the further ruling will confirm this and that Michael will be freed Arlene McCarthy MEP

Shields is currently serving the remainder of his sentence, which was cut to 10 years on appeal in Bulgaria, at HMP Haverigg in Cumbria.

Labour MEP Arlene McCarthy said the ruling was a "positive step forward in the campaign to free Michael Shields".

"It reaffirms what I have always been led to believe by Brussels-based legal experts that the receiving country, the UK, does have the power under the Convention on the Transfer of Prisoners to release Michael," she said.

"Where there has been such a blatant case of a miscarriage of justice and where the Bulgarian justice system has failed to allow Michael to prove his innocence, I see no reason why we need their permission or agreement to release him.

"I hope that the further ruling will confirm this and that Michael will be freed, reunited with his family and allowed to get on with his life."

A Judicial Review will now be held before senior High Court Judges at a hearing in London.

Shields was convicted in Bulgaria of attacking a barman who had a paving slab dropped on his head.

The incident followed Liverpool's Champions League final victory in May 2005.