Jailed fan 'innocent' says report

Michael Shields has always maintained his innocence

A confidential police report suggests jailed Liverpool fan Michael Shields may be innocent, the BBC has learned.

The Merseyside Police report, compiled for Justice Secretary Jack Straw, says if the case had happened in the UK, Shields may have been given an appeal.

He is serving a 10-year sentence for the attempted murder of a Bulgarian barman in 2005.

A new witness claims the attacker was not Shields, the report says. Mr Straw has denied Shields a pardon.

Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said the police report confirmed her view that there had been a miscarriage of justice.

She said: "The report states very clearly that they [Merseyside Police] think this is an unsafe conviction, had the case been held in this country it should go to a court of appeal and that consideration should be given to paroling Michael during his appeal."

Louise Ellman, Labour MP, says Michael Shields' conviction was unsafe

She added that she would be working closely with the Shields family's legal team as "a young man's future lies in the balance".

Michael Shields' parents told BBC reporter Liam O'Donoghue they were now even angrier at Mr Straw, following his earlier announcement that he had provisionally decided against a pardon for their son.

Mr Straw gave the family's legal team four weeks to come up with new evidence to convince him Shields was "morally and technically" innocent.

'New witness' evidence'

A statement from the Ministry of Justice said the Justice Secretary recognised that many would be disappointed by his decision but he "adopted the approach that the Court expected him to adopt".

"Mr Shields can now submit any further representations he may want to make, after which the Justice Secretary will make a final decision on the evidence before him.

"The Justice Secretary has to weigh up new witness' evidence alongside all the other evidence including witness evidence from Bulgaria and the decisions of the Bulgarian Courts. That is what the High Court indicated he should do."

High Court judges ruled in December that Mr Straw had the power to grant Shields a pardon.

Shields, 22, from Edge Hill, Liverpool, has always maintained his innocence.

He is serving his sentence at Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institute, in Appleton Thorn, Warrington, and is due to be released in May 2010.