With a goody bag of sweets and fruit from mum, Michael Shields boards a plane homeNov 23 2006
EXCLUSIVE By Greg O'Keeffe, Liverpool Echo
MICHAEL Shields was finally back on British soil today after his 18-month Bulgarian prison nightmare ended.
The 20-year-old was due to land at Heathrow airport on a British Airways flight, which left the capital Sofia earlier this afternoon.
He was accompanied by prison officers from Wandsworth jail in London where he will spend two months being assessed. His return had been delayed by months through Interpol red tape.
It is the first time the engineering student has been home since leaving Wavertree to watch Liverpool FC play in the Champions League final in May 2005.
His mother Marie paid her last visit to Varna prison yesterday, where Michael has spent the past 18 months, before she returned on an earlier flight.
She said: "His face just burst into a smile when he saw me. We were together for about half-an-hour and he was dead excited, but really nervous as well.
"Michael has no idea what it will be like inside a British prison because he's never set foot in one.
"But more than anything he's just glad to be going home.
"I said he should try and get a good night's sleep because of all the travelling he'll be doing, but he said he would be awake counting down the seconds last night.
"I was allowed to give him a little goody bag with sweets and fruit in for the flight home.
"He suffers with his ears sometimes, so I told him to put cotton wool in them for take-off and landing. He just smiled and said that with what he's been through over the last year not to worry about his ears.
"When I was leaving some of his friends in the prison came and shook my hand and the jail social worker said he is a lovely lad and she'll miss him.
"They've formed a close bond while he's been there because she is one of few who can speak any English.
"Just before I left, Michael said he can't wait to see his Nan when he gets back. She hasn't been well and it's been worrying him.
"He saw her almost every day before all this happened. She will be one of the first down to see him."
Michael's father Michael Snr added: "I'm full of mixed emotions. I'm full of joy that he will be in his own country and we won't have to be travelling and banging our heads against a brick wall with the Bulgarians.
"The past 18 months have been the worst of our lives - just so exhausting and now we can try and get some normality back.
"But I'm sad that he has to come home and then go into a prison cell because he's an innocent lad.
"Now we just want to focus on getting Michael's innocence proved in the European courts.
"For now though I want to thank the ECHO and the people of Liverpool because without them we wouldn't be bringing him home today."
Michael has even vowed to return to Bulgaria if a bid to have his conviction for attempted murder of a barman overturned is successful.
He has already discussed the visit with Labour leader Joe Anderson who led the campaign to bring Michael home.
Cllr Anderson said: "We're all thrilled but this is only the first major obstacle cleared.
"Michael wants to go back to Bulgaria with me one day and explain to them that they locked up an innocent man and what a major miscarriage of justice he has suffered.
"He is determined to do that"
The handover follows months of negotiations with officials in Bulgaria, where he has been held for 18 months following his 10-year sentence for the alleged attempted murder of a barman.
The next stage in Michael's fight to prove his innocence is an appeal to the European court of human rights on the grounds that he did not receive a fair trial.
Michael will be in London's Wandsworth Jail, used as a clearing station for all prison transfers, for a month until a place is found for him in a Northern jail.
He will undergo physical and mental assessment by psychologists and wardens before the next move, which his family hope will be to a jail in Merseyside, preferably Altcourse
TimelineMay 29, 2005: Martin Georgiev is attacked with paving slab.
May 30: Michael Shields arrested with others. Graham Sankey released after questioning.
June 3: ECHO reveals Michael says he was in his hotel at time of attack.
June 27: Michael charged with attempted murder and hooliganism.
July 21: Trial starts.
July 23: Sankey confesses to attack through solicitor, but judge rules confession inadmissible.
July 26: Michael jailed for 15 years. April 2006: Michael's bid for a retrial fails. His sentence is cut to 10 but his fine increased.
May: Bishop of Liverpool Rt Rev James Jones visits Michael. Says: "I'm convinced he is innocent."
November 23: Michael flown to Heathrow to be transferred to Wandsworth Prison.
