 Michael Shields' family claim he is a scapegoat |
The man who claimed he carried out an assault on a Bulgarian waiter for which a Liverpool fan was jailed has now signed a confession. Michael Shields, 18, from Liverpool, was jailed on Tuesday for attacking Martin Georgiev with a paving stone.
Graham Sankey, 20, claims he was responsible, but an unsigned statement was not accepted at Shields' trial.
Mr Sankey's solicitor David Kirwan said he had sent the new signed confession to the Bulgarian courts.
The move could help free Shields, who was jailed in Bulgaria on Tuesday for the attack on Mr Georgiev in the resort of Varna.
The engineering student denied the charge and insisted he was in bed when the attack took place after the Champions League final in May.
In the confession, electrician Mr Sankey, 20, from Anfield, says that he threw a brick at a group of people when he saw a fight in Varna. He claims he did not realise at the time Mr Georgiev was injured.
Mr Sankey said: "I accept that I must have caused the serious injury to Mr Georgiev.
"My conscience has been tormenting me ever since."
His solicitor David Kirwan said Mr Sankey had suffered death threats and the decision to provide the statement follows "the worst days of his life and that of his family".
'Home by Christmas'
He added: "Graham had hoped that by admitting responsibility for the attack on Saturday that the Bulgarian courts would immediately free Michael Shields.
"Instead, the Bulgarian judge dismissed all rational pleas for an adjournment and sentenced an innocent man to 15 years in prison.
"Graham was left shattered and totally bewildered by these turn of events. He wishes he could turn back the clock for both his own sake and that of Michael's."
The confession comes only hours after justice campaigner Stephen Jakobi, of pressure group Fair Trials Abroad, met the Bulgarian ambassador, Lachezav Matev, in London.
He said the meeting was a "breakthrough", claiming he was promised the "utmost goodwill" of the Bulgarian government and that it would push to reopen the case.
 |  I am going to fight with every breath in my body, even if it's my last breath |
But he warned it was likely to take several months before Shields was allowed back to the UK.
"If things are going well we might see Michael home by Christmas - if they're not it's next Christmas," Mr Jakobi told the BBC.
"If we can get the arrest warrant winging back and the confession going out, we can take the campaign forward.
"But international arrest warrants take a while and, if he decides he is going to fight it we've got an extradition process. International proceedings can be fought for years."
Earlier, Shields' legal team had said that they could get his sentence halved. They are planning two appeals - one to cut Shields' sentence and one to free him on bail.
Shields' father, also called Michael, and sister Melissa flew to Bulgaria from their home in Edge Hill in Liverpool on Thursday morning.
"I am not going to give up. I am going to fight with every breath in my body, even if it's my last breath," Mr Shields said.
"Even if it puts me six-foot under I have promised I will get my boy home to his mother."
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