Scots Guards' legal bid fails
By Sean O'Tuama
The two Scots Guards, James Fisher and Mark Wright, who were
convicted in 1992 of the murder of North Belfast teenager Peter
McBride, have failed in their attempt to gain an early release in
the High Court on Friday 23 May.
They will now have to wait until October and their fourth appeal
to the Life Sentence Review Board before their case can be
reconsidered.
Peter's family were pleased at the judge's decision to throw out
the soldiers' plea for a judicial review but continue to call for
them to be dismissed from the British Army.
``Tony Blair said this week that he understands the plight of the
victims,'' said Jean McBride, Peter's mother, ``why then are these
two convicted murderers allowed to stay in the army? Does our
loss and pain count less than the loss and pain of other victims'
families?''
The family also appealed for a meeting with Armed Forces
Minister, John Reid, who has already met with those trying to get
the soldiers released.
``I don't expect them to be the only two left in jail if early
releases start,'' said Peter's father, also called Peter, ``but I
don't want them to be the first to be let out either.''
In a further development on Sunday 24 May, Iain Duncan-Smith,
British Tory shadow social security minister and former Scots
Guard himself, called for the two convicted murderers to be
released. He claimed that their action in shooting Mr McBride in
the back was ``not a crime like any other crime where a man just
goes out and deliberately shoots someone.''
It is also believed that Direct Ruler Mowlam is planning to meet
George Foulkes, the Guards' MP, to discuss their case. She has
already refused to meet the McBride family, alleging that it
would be ``totally inappropriate.'' A spokesperson for the Pat
Finucane Centre in Derry which is supporting the McBride family
said, ``I would like to know how this (meeting with Foulkes) is
going to go ahead and how it is appropriate.''
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