Straw comes up short on justice
SHOULD we congratulate Justice Minister Jack Straw for issuing a royal pardon to Michael Shields, who has served 4½ years in jail for a crime he didn't commit?
Or should we ask why the hell it took him so long - in the face of pretty strong evidence - to come to the conclusion that Shields is innocent?
Should we also ask him why in 2008 he told us it WASN'T within his power to free Shields, and then in 2009 he suddenly realised it WAS?
Doesn't the Justice Minster know what powers he has?
Hasn't he taken the time to find out? And if he doesn't know, surely there must be people who can tell him?
Because there is no question that if Michael Shields' family, friends and supporters in Liverpool hadn't kept badgering Straw - hadn't kept shoving the evidence under his nose, hadn't relentlessly protested the lad's innocence - he would have rotted in prison for another six years.
Slab
It was 4½ years ago that a Bulgarian court convicted 18-year-old Michael of attempting to murder barman Martin Georgiev.
Michael was accused and convicted of throwing a concrete slab on Georgiev's head after watching Liverpool win the Champions League final.
Shields has always maintained he was in bed sleeping at the time of the attack - and, indeed, another supporter Graham Sankey later confessed to it in a written statement to his solicitor.
But no one in Bulgaria listened. And no one here did either. And even though Sankey's statement and his verbal confession to members of Michael's family have been in the public domain for a long time, Mr Straw has suddenly and conveniently decided that the verbal confession is "new evidence" (it's only new to someone who's been living down a manhole these past four years) and is somehow more compelling than Sankey's written statement to his solicitor.
I'm sorry, but this whole thing strinks of subterfuge, incompetence and political wheeler-dealing.
Can it be a coincidence that Michael's pardon comes after his father's threat to stand against Jack Straw in Blackburn at the next election unless his son was released?
Tricksters
And did Mr Straw really want to chance his seat against a bunch of furious Northerners fuelled by a colossal sense of injustice, who already think this government is made up of asses, tricksters and criminals?
And if Graham Sankey IS guilty, why isn't Jack Straw flicking through his "Justice Secretary's Handbook" to see how he can get him extradited to Bulgaria where he can be punished for what he did to Martin Georgiev?
Bulgarian ministers are quite rightly furious that no one is being offered up for this crime, and you have to admire their insistence that someone must be.
This is a country that imposes a 15-year sentence for attempted murder, as opposed to soft-touch Britain where you could probably murder two people and not get close to that.
Perhaps in between swotting up on what powers he has, Mr Straw should devote some time to making British justice a bit tougher - while he's still got the job.
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This article has 11 comments
I am writing as the Editor of Bulgaria's main English language media- the Sofia News Agency. This article is one of the first in the UK press on the issue to be spot on - Why has Straw not mentioned the possibility of extraditing Sankey?
By Henry Rowlands.. Posted September 14 2009 at 10:09 AM.
Graham Sankey ADMITTED on more than one occasion he was the guilty party - he was just too much of a coward to do anything while he was in Bulgaria. Michael Shields is an innocent boy who got blamed for something he didn't do and finally Jack Straw has pulled his finger out and done the right thing! I wonder how many people would be keen to keep him in jail if it was their son/brother who was locked up for something they didn't do!
By Kim.. Posted September 13 2009 at 2:11 PM.
carole, this weeks effort is going down like a lead balloon,truth is.... nobody cares,we've got more important things on our plate like jorden and pete,x factor, and the price of fish....
By alansimpson.. Posted September 13 2009 at 12:20 PM.
He should never have been inside in the first place, Bulgaria should clean up it's act if they want tourism, I for one won't be going if you can be put in clink for 4 years for something you didn't do
By Steve.. Posted September 13 2009 at 12:02 PM.
oh thanx so as a british citizen i dont get to have my say....typical
By jemm.. Posted September 13 2009 at 11:28 AM.
hey mikael who do you mthink you are saying british people lie all the time, i would be accused of being racist if i said this about your country folk!
the whole story about micheals case is srtange but i do believe he is innocent.
By jemm.. Posted September 13 2009 at 11:24 AM.
hey mikael who do you think you are saying british people lie all the time, we would be accused of being racist if we said that about your country folk!
i personally think there is somethong odd about the whole story of michael, but i do believe he is innocent.
By jemm.. Posted September 13 2009 at 11:22 AM.
And that's the question I've been asking - WHY did it take so long??? This evidence was available to Straw early on in this case yet he chose to ignore it, why?
By Debs.. Posted September 13 2009 at 11:15 AM.
This man has been found guilty. The British Covernment made an arrangement for this convict to be transferred to an Britsh Prison to serve his full sentence. Why has Briton not kept it's word. The grounds that this convict was released do not hold water. There were 5 witnesses who swore on oath that this man was guilty. If Straw thought this man was innocent then he should have returned this man to Bulgaria with the man who says that he committed this cowardly crime for them both to appear in a Bulgarian court.
By des egan.. Posted September 13 2009 at 11:11 AM.
I do not understand how the UK can pardon someone convicted in Bulgaria. I would also suggest that it is now going to be more difficult to transfer other criminals home to serve their sentence.
By Kevin S.. Posted September 13 2009 at 9:00 AM.
i dont see what problem is he guilty he say he was in bed, british peoples tell lies all time what about victim he say it was him not other person so who did it then peoples tell lies all times
By mikael .. Posted September 13 2009 at 7:39 AM.