Liverpool Players supporting Michael Shields

[corn02]

Lads settle down and calm yourselves a minute.    Take the fact he's a Livepool fan out of it.



Time to catch a grip about how far "supporting your club" extends to when you claim a convicted attempted murderer is innocent just cos he supports the same club as you.

One of the stupidest posts I have ever seen. You make it out as if Pool fans would back Harold Shipman. There have been plenty of Liverpool fans who have carried out murder etc and the support base would look at them with disgust. The fact this case is different is because it is not as black and white as you have made it out to be. Jesus you think people from Northern Ireland would be open to the suggestion of a miscarriage of justice, if it so is in this case.

[corn02]

It was  the first time the two teams met since the incidient. What a stupid statement.

?

[bingobus]

No harm Under the Bar, but we are old enough and big enough to make our own minds up and some of us will have read more than one article before making a decision.

Their are other facts not included in that article, for instance one of the witnesses who said Shields was in bed was the hotel porter on duty that night, who saw him return to hotel that night and not leave. He has also passed a Home Office Lie detector test. His ID parade included him and 3 bulgarians. They put a white T-shirt on him for it but he didn't have one on holidays with him. CCTV from that night showed Sankey in a white T-shirt. None of the witnessess clearly saw the face but the form and appearance of the guilty party. They are distant cousins. Sankey was willing to stand trial in the Uk. Sankey has since served time for racial abusing a doorman in Liverpool.

You may accuse a few of wearing Liverpool classes but equally others are wearing Man United or anto-english classes. As for 1000's of Irish calling for his release??? I don't see that anywhere.

As long as he's in jail, United fans can keep singing their little party songs about him and that'll keep you happy.

[corn02]

Don't want to get into a slanging match Under The Bar, but I hate the notion that I would back Shields for the simple reason that he was a Pool fan, I take that as an insult. Surely you can even accept there is something not right about the whole thing? The simple fact is that a Liverpool fan committed this disgusting act, that can not be  argued. The saddest thing about the affair is that the victim has pretty much been forgotten.

[corn02]

No harm Under the Bar, but we are old enough and big enough to make our own minds up and some of us will have read more than one article before making a decision.

Their are other facts not included in that article, for instance one of the witnesses who said Shields was in bed was the hotel porter on duty that night, who saw him return to hotel that night and not leave. He has also passed a Home Office Lie detector test. His ID parade included him and 3 bulgarians. They put a white T-shirt on him for it but he didn't have one on holidays with him. CCTV from that night showed Sankey in a white T-shirt. None of the witnessess clearly saw the face but the form and appearance of the guilty party. They are distant cousins. Sankey was willing to stand trial in the Uk. Sankey has since served time for racial abusing a doorman in Liverpool.

You may accuse a few of wearing Liverpool classes but equally others are wearing Man United or anto-english classes. As for 1000's of Irish calling for his release??? I don't see that anywhere.

As long as he's in jail, United fans can keep singing their little party songs about him and that'll keep you happy.

Good post but please dlete the last line. United fans sing it, I have experienced it atAnfield first hand, they also sing about Hillsborough. We sing about Munich. (Not me, but some Pool fans). Its a tired argument that makes both suppeors look like tramps, let's not get into that particular argument.

[pintsofguinness]

Corn, all that article tells me is that about 20+ people (with no reason to lie) and the victim identified Shields while his friends are messing up their attempts to provide an alibi and then we've got someone working in a hotel who doesnt know what time Shields came in to the hotel at.

As for the bullshit from "One eyewitness, who doesn't wanted to be identified", give me a break!


bingo

They put a white T-shirt on him for it but he didn't have one on holidays with him. CCTV from that night showed Sankey in a white T-shirt.

But shanky has dark hair and witnesses say the culprit had fair hair and was wearing a white shirt - Shields was wearing a cream shirt which in my eyes is the same thing. 

And would you boys leave the man utd/liverpool bullshit out of it, I work with man u, liverpool and everton fans all day every day (people actually from manchester and liverpool) and I never hear the bullshit that goes on on this board. 

[under the bar]

One of the stupidest posts I have ever seen. You make it out as if Pool fans would back Harold Shipman. There have been plenty of Liverpool fans who have carried out murder etc and the support base would look at them with disgust. The fact this case is different is because it is not as black and white as you have made it out to be. Jesus you think people from Northern Ireland would be open to the suggestion of a miscarriage of justice, if it so is in this case.

You, Bingobus and other Irish people are supporting his case because he is a Liverpool fan and no other reason.  Had he been an England fan you'd not care a toss about him.  Fact.  

There ae a few circumstantial questions yes but how can you ignore the fact that one person charged who was associating with Shields admits that they attacked the barman together.  

I would not in anyway support a ManU fan on the basis of the same evidence.    There a loads of toe rags who follow both ManU and Livepool and if they get into trouble abroad let them form their own defense rather than mobilizing the club & supporters into protesting innocence they cannot possibly be any way sure of.

[GalwayBayBoy]

That is quite a one-sided article with underlying tones that Shields is guilty. There have been plenty of articles hinting that he is purely innocent.

In fairness it's probably a balanced article and the poins StGalls makes can't be ignored.   Rags like the Mirror, Sun, Liverpool Echo etc will of course rally around the "our boy is innocent" flagpole. 

How come Liverpool fans/scousers never take the blame for anything and are always claim to be the victims without any regard for the real victims?  En masse the fans come out shouting his innocence, most of whom know nothing about the case.   

The most laughable of all is the rumour (now stated as fact by any hard--nosed Liverpool fan you meet) that Skanks or whetver he's called is actually an Everton fan who tagged along to start trouble.

I await your latest retraction with bated breath. I have a feeling I'll be waiting though. I suggest you grow up and stop believing everything you read on Red Issue or Red Cafe.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/home/tm_objectid=15795480%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=i%2dwant%2dto%2dbring%2dmichael%2dhome-name_page.html

I want to bring Michael home Jul 29 2005

By Greg O'Keeffe, Liverpool Echo

THE father of innocent Michael Shields has landed in Bulgaria and declared: "I've come to bring home my son."

Michael Shields snr was breaking news of three key developments as he visited his son in Varna jail.

* Graham Sankey has signed a confession, faxed by the ECHO to Bulgaria yesterday.

* The Bulgarian government will put pressure on the country's judiciary to reopen the case.

* Lawyers for Michael were today lodging an official complaint against Sankey, the first step to arrest and extradition proceedings.

The ECHO exclusively revealed the developments in later editions of yesterday's paper, but Michael was unaware of them as he languished in his Bulgarian jail cell.

Mr Shields, 45, is confident his 18-year-old son can be freed on bail now that electrician Sankey has officially admitted the paving slab attack his son was jailed for.

Speaking moments after arriving in Varna, Mr Shields said: "We've had so many ups and downs but I'm not going to give up.

"I'm going to fight with every breath in my body, even if it's my last breath.

"Even if it puts me six foot under, I have promised I will get my boy home to his mother."

Mr Shields, with his daughter Melissa, 26, was today visiting Michael in prison.

Michael was being told his legal team were beginning the process of getting Everton fan Sankey extradited.

That could begin today when Bulgarian authorities contact Mersey-side police to urge them to arrest the 20-year-old Anfield man.

[corn02]

Corn, all that article tells me is that about 20+ people (with no reason to lie) and the victim identified Shields while his friends are messing up their attempts to provide an alibi and then we've got someone working in a hotel who doesnt know what time Shields came in to the hotel at.

As for the bullshit from "One eyewitness, who doesn't wanted to be identified", give me a break!


bingo

They put a white T-shirt on him for it but he didn't have one on holidays with him. CCTV from that night showed Sankey in a white T-shirt.

But shanky has dark hair and witnesses say the culprit had fair hair and was wearing a white shirt - Shields was wearing a cream shirt which in my eyes is the same thing. 

And would you boys leave the man utd/liverpool bullshit out of it, I work with man u, liverpool and everton fans all day every day (people actually from manchester and liverpool) and I never hear the bullshit that goes on on this board. 

So you are just assuming that the Liverpool fans have a reason to lie then and that their accounts do not matter.

Also the inicdent happened at 5am, do you not think some of these witnesses could have been perhaps drunk themselves, or maybe could not have seen right at this time of night.

Also BBC is not the sort of media outlet to make up eyewitness accounts like the Sun.

[pintsofguinness]

So you are just assuming that the Liverpool fans have a reason to lie then and that their accounts do not matter.

I think the liverpool fans and his mates in particular have reason to lie, yes. 

Also the inicdent happened at 5am, do you not think some of these witnesses could have been perhaps drunk themselves, or maybe could not have seen right at this time of night.

Also BBC is not the sort of media outlet to make up eyewitness accounts like the Sun.

Possibly but have you ever been to bulgaria? You'll see very few drunk bulgarians even with all the 24 hour places selling drink. 
Not that that matters, seeing an incident like that would sober you up pretty quickly and it's unlikely that 20+ people get it wrong.

[bingobus]

Under the bar/Pints,

To say I am supporting his case is madness. If trying to put some other facts across on this board, is supporting him, then I'm giulty as charged. I don't walk round with his T-shirt on or have I donated to his appeal fund. If at a game and a bucket was been passed round, i would prob throw in a few pound. The fact he is a Liverpool supporter, has only made me aware of his case. Hundreds of football supporters have been locked up in the past abroad but this is the only one that has made headlines, tv programmes etc. Maybe its because he is innocent and those who run these media have satisfied themslves. Not every Liverpool fan who has been locked up abroad has automatically become the darling of Liverpool fans. This is a one off.

You's are obvoiusly happy with your own beliefs and I'll let you's with them. I couldn't be arsed.

[corn02]

So you are just assuming that the Liverpool fans have a reason to lie then and that their accounts do not matter.

I think the liverpool fans and his mates in particular have reason to lie, yes. 

Also the inicdent happened at 5am, do you not think some of these witnesses could have been perhaps drunk themselves, or maybe could not have seen right at this time of night.

Also BBC is not the sort of media outlet to make up eyewitness accounts like the Sun.

Possibly but have you ever been to bulgaria? You'll see very few drunk bulgarians even with all the 24 hour places selling drink. 
Not that that matters, seeing an incident like that would sober you up pretty quickly and it's unlikely that 20+ people get it wrong.

Also it is unlikely that all his friends imagined him in your room. You are suspecting that his friends are lying because they are scouse. Hypothetically speaking and it was you, would you expect your friends to be lying if they said they saw you in the room?

[stevo-08]

Unfortunately I dont have the time to read all the posts here (i will do later), but all I'll say it that the investigation leading to Shield's conviction was an absolute farce and the case should have been thrown out.

- No forensics were carried out at the crime scene whatsoever.
- The conviction was based solely on eye witnesses picking shields out of a lineup. Prior to that lineup, Shields was handcuffed to a radiator in the lobby of the police station for 16hrs and the eye witnesses were allowed to pass by & see shields - that in itself would make the lineup inadmissable in court.
- Also, there should be 6 persons in the lineup, all of similar appearance. In this case, there was 4 people, and shields was the only white person. Hardly similar appearances then!!!
- Finally, depsite all the eye witnesses saying that one person initially punched Giorgiev and a different person threw a slab on his head, some of the eye witnesses at the lineup identified shields as the person who punched the bulgarian, while others identified him as the person who threw the slab. This contradiction again should have made the lineup non-conclusive.

At the end of the day there was an absolutely savage attack on Giorgiev and I dont know whether Shields is innocent or guilty of that crime. But I do believe the investigation was a shambles and the case against Shields should have been thrown out.

[pintsofguinness]

corn

Also it is unlikely that all his friends imagined him in your room. You are suspecting that his friends are lying because they are scouse. Hypothetically speaking and it was you, would you expect your friends to be lying if they said they saw you in the room?

FFS I dont give a shite where he is from, dont you start going down that road. 
I suspect his friends may be lying because they're his friends trying to cover for him! What were they all doing going in and out of the room?

[corn02]

Unfortunately I dont have the time to read all the posts here (i will do later), but all I'll say it that the investigation leading to Shield's conviction was an absolute farce and the case should have been thrown out.

- No forensics were carried out at the crime scene whatsoever.
- The conviction was based solely on eye witnesses picking shields out of a lineup. Prior to that lineup, Shields was handcuffed to a radiator in the lobby of the police station for 16hrs and the eye witnesses were allowed to pass by & see shields - that in itself would make the lineup inadmissable in court.
- Also, there should be 6 persons in the lineup, all of similar appearance. In this case, there was 4 people, and shields was the only white person. Hardly similar appearances then!!!
- Finally, depsite all the eye witnesses saying that one person initially punched Giorgiev and a different person threw a slab on his head, some of the eye witnesses at the lineup identified shields as the person who punched the bulgarian, while others identified him as the person who threw the slab. This contradiction again should have made the lineup non-conclusive.

At the end of the day there was an absolutely savage attack on Giorgiev and I dont know whether Shields is innocent or guilty of that crime. But I do believe the investigation was a shambles and the case against Shields should have been thrown out.

Good points again, also Pints I think this sort of relegates your idea that the Bulgarians have no reason to lie, while the Pool fans do. You have no idea what type of people these are and I am just assuming you think of them as 'scallys'. Also so what if there are not many 24-hour bars etc? Many people can be getting drink, or coming out of clubs at thta stage, who is the say the eyewitnesses wwere not drnk . I have no proof but by assuming this I am being just as flippant as you assuming the people that saw him in bed were lying.

Nulgaria had their entry delayed, or at lease threatned to be delayed, into the EU because their law system was not up to scratch. The sentence was reduced from 15 to 10 years, not overly significant, but shows something was not right.

Also, regarding Shanks statement. If he did actually do it, would it not be possible that he gave a watered down version to perhaps get a reduced sentence? He admitted he was "legless" so that obviously comes into play. Also it is believed that he if anything is to come of his statement, he is looking for a sentence in Britain, hence him not going to the Bulgarian Courts.