Pardoned football fan Michael Shields has spoken of his "living hell" after being freed from prison and declared: "Today is the first day of the rest of my life."
Mr Shields, 22, emerged smiling from prison on Wednesday morning after Justice Secretary Jack Straw granted a much fought-for Royal Pardon.
The pardon means he is "technically and morally innocent" of the attempted murder of waiter Martin Georgiev in Bulgaria following Liverpool's 2005 Champions League win.
He was initially sentenced to 15 years but the term was later reduced to 10.
At a press conference, Mr Shields told those who campaigned for his release: "Your voices were heard. Thanks to you, I knew I would never walk alone. Thank you."
The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, read a statement on his behalf.
It said: "The last four years have been the hardest four years of my life. They have been a living hell. Today is the first day of the rest of my life."
Mr Straw said he was told by Shields' parents about a meeting between members of the Shields family and another man accused of the attack on barman Martin Georgiev, who was struck on the head with a rock.
Mr Straw was told the man, Graham Sankey, confessed to the attack on the second day of Shields' trial in Bulgaria.
He said: "I will not set out in this statement all the evidence that has come to light over the last two weeks but suffice it to say that there is very good reason to believe I was being told the truth. This, in my view, profoundly changed the credibility of the various accounts of what actually happened in this case."
