LONDON (AP) — Britain's government pardoned an English soccer fan convicted of attempted murder in Bulgaria, saying another man confessed to the crime.
Michael Shields, 22, was "absolutely ecstatic and so are his family," says lawyer John Wheate. Shields, who served part of a 10-year sentence, left prison on Wednesday.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw says he pardoned Shields after new evidence "profoundly changed the credibility of the various accounts of what actually happened in this case."
He says another man, whom he did not name, confessed to the attempted murder of a bartender at the time Shields was on trial. Shields watched Liverpool FC win the 2005 Champions League soccer final before a bartender was attacked when he tried to break up a brawl.
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