A Liverpool football fan Michael Shields who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in Bulgaria in May 2005 could be released after serving five years after being transferred back to Britain.

UK law and order minister David Hanson agreed to set a provisional date for the release of Shields for May 30 2010, UK newspaper The Liverpool Echo said.

Shields was jailed for 15 years in Bulgaria for the attempted murder of Martin Georgiev in a Black Sea resort in 2005. Georgiev suffered severe injuries and nearly died after being hit on the head with a cobblestone while trying to end a drunken brawl in which Shields was involved.

In April 2006, the Bulgarian Supreme Court reduced Shields' sentence because of his age, 20 at that time, previous good character and the attempt charge, the newspaper reports.

Shields' local member of parliament Louise Ellman was quoted as saying the earlier release date had been agreed because the British authorities failed to take into account the 10 months he had served in Bulgaria.

UK's justice ministry said it did not comment on the release arrangements of individual prisoners.

It did issue a general statement about prisoner release policies. In the UK, prisoners who committed their offence on or after April 4 2005 are automatically released after having served half their sentence.

"In the case of a prisoner repatriated to the UK, the prisoner is released at the halfway point of the balance of the sentence remaining to be served at the date of transfer,” a ministry statement said.

"This takes into account time served or deemed to have been served in the state where the sentence was given."