HE PASSED!! WHAT A RELIEF!
Michael Shields is telling us âthe absolute truthâDec 21 2007 by Greg O'Keeffe, Liverpool Echo
THE International expert who carried out Michael Shieldsâs lie detector test today said the LFC fan âmust be freedâ.
British Polygraphersâ Association chairman Don Cargill said he was telling the âabsolute truthâ when he denied attacking waiter Martin Georgiev.
Mr Cargill, who has had talks with the government about using his techniques in criminal cases, said Justice Minister Jack Straw should personally see the results of the test and pardon Michael.
Mr Cargill said: âIn my professional opinion Michael Shields did not assault Martin Georgiev, nor was he anywhere near the scene of the assault. Absolutely not.
âBeforehand I took a totally neutral view of this like I have to with every case.
âI now know that Michael is a genuine person who was telling the absolute truth.
âHe is 100% innocent and merely in the wrong part of the world at the wrong time. I only hope that the British government can now let him out.â
During the two-hour test Mr Cargill asked Michael three major questions:
Q. WERE you the person who hit Martin Georgiev on the head with a brick outside the Big Ben restaurant on May 30 2005?
A. No. Verdict: He was telling the truth.
Q. WERE you involved in any way in the assault on Mr Georgiev before he was hit on the head with a brick? A. No. Verdict: He was telling the truth.
Q. WERE you at the scene of the assault on Mr Georgiev outside the Big Ben restaurant?
A. No. Verdict: He was telling the truth.
Mr Cargill, also MD of the largest privately owned Polygraph company in the UK, Nadac, added: âMichael came across as a nice young man. Remarkably he was not angry or bitter despite the situation he has found himself in.
âI hope the results of the test are a boost for his parents and the people fighting to free him.â
Michaelâs father, Michael Shields snr, said: âMichael has wanted to take this test from day one. Iâm made up he passed with flying colours.â
City Labour leader Joe Anderson, who was with Michael in Garth prison, Preston, and who pushed for the test to take place said: âMichael volunteered to take this test because he wanted to clear his name. We pushed for it to take place and now we go forward and carry on the pressure to get him out.â
The jailed student was asked dozens of other key questions relating to the attack on the Bulgarian waiter which led to his jailing in the Black sea resort of Varna.
Michael was assessed by forensic psychologist Dr Keith Ashcroft before being connected to the polygraph computer.
Mr Cargill said results would be 95 to 98% accurate.
Earlier this month the ECHO revealed a Liverpool man who saw the attack offered to go to Bulgaria and vouch for Michael.
Two men were also named in parliament as potential witnesses but later said they knew nothing that could free him.
Liverpool Riverside MP Louise Ellman used the protection of parliamentary privilege named two men â Steven Clare and Graham Sankey â as the attackers.
NOW SET HIM FREE FOR CHRISTMAS!
