Bulgaria’s president Georgi Purvanov discussed with the European Parliament member Arlene McCarthy the case of UK football fan Michael Shields, who had been sentenced in Bulgaria for attempted murder.

McCarthy had requested a meeting with Purvanov, a President's press office media statement said.

Purvanov confirmed his firm position, that he had confidence in the Bulgarian judicial system and would not advise Vice President Angel Marin to exercise his powers to pardon Shields.

In Shields’s case, the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons was applicable and one could not expect Bulgarian institutions to agree to a pardon, Purvanov said.

Shields was sentenced to 15 years for the attempted murder of Bulgarian bartender Martin Georgiev in 2005. The Briton hit Georgiev with a stone on the head. The incident permanently impaired Georgiev’s ability to work. In 2006 Shields was moved to a UK prison.