British military assessor backs McBride family

The mother of north Belfast teenager Peter McBride has welcomed criticism by an independent agency of the decision to allow his killers to return to the British Army.

Jean McBride said the independent assessor of military complaints, “appears to be the only person in a position of authority who understands the wrong that was done and continues to be done to our family”.

In 1995 Scots guardsmen James Fisher and Mark Wright were convicted of murdering the unarmed 18-year-old and sentenced to life imprisonment.

But within three years they were released from jail and allowed back into the army.

Jim McDonald said the decision undermined the credibility of the British Army.

“When the army are dismissing young men for smoking pot, the fact that it has failed to do anything with these two guys undermines its credibility. They should not have been reinstated,” he said

The Court of Appeal in London previously declared that the British Army had been wrong to allow the two to remain as soldiers, but this ruling was ignored by the British government.

Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly called for the immediate removal of the two soldiers from the British Army.

“It sends the clear message that the murder of Irish people by British crown forces is acceptable and will go unpunished.

“I will be writing on this matter to the British government and Sinn Féin will continue to support the McBride family in their search for justice.”

Urgent Appeal