Soldiers who murdered Belfast youth may be freed this year

TWO Scottish soldiers who murdered a north Belfast youth may be released later this year after Sir Patrick Mayhew decided their case should be considered by the Life Sentence Review Board in October.

Scots Guardsmen James Fisher and Mark Wright were not due to have their case reviewed until late next year but yesterday the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said review would be brought forward by a full year.

The two soldiers were convicted of the 1992 murder of 18 year old Peter McBride from the New Lodge in north Belfast. He was shot shortly after he had been stopped by the British army when walking through the New Lodge in September, 1992.

The decision to have the soldiers case reviewed follows a campaign led by some British MPs and senior British military figures.

The campaign infuriated the parents of Mr McBride. His father, Mr Peter McBride, said no one should interfere with the life sentences. Mrs Jean McBride complained that her dead son eventually would be denied proper justice by the "British establishment".

The soldiers case was strengthened last December when the High Court in Belfast quashed a decision not to refer their case to the Life Sentence Review Board until "late 1998".

The NIO, in a statement yesterday, acknowledged that cases were not normally first considered by the board until prisoners had served 10 years. But where there were exceptional factors", cases could be considered earlier.

"Although Fisher and Wright committed a gravely serious crime there are exceptional mitigating factors in these cases which indicate that an earlier first review is appropriate," the NIO said.

"These mitigating factors include the difficult circumstances in which the soldiers were operating in the course of their duty and the fact that there was no premeditation.

"Review by the board does not imply that a decision will be necessarily taken to release the guardsmen on licence immediately after review," the NIO stated.

However, precedent would indicate the soldiers may be released in October. During the December High Court hearing the soldiers claimed they were being treated less favourably than Pvt Ian Thain and Paratrooper Lee Clegg, who were released after serving less than four years of their life sentences.

If the board decides in their favour in October Fisher and Wright will have spent five years in custody.