THE case of British paratrooper Lee Clegg has been one of the most controversial in Northern Ireland's legal history. It has polarised unionists and nationalists, led to widespread rioting in republican areas, and at times it has strained relations between London and Dublin.
In 1993, Clegg (30) was convicted of the murder of Karen Reilly. At the time, he was a private in the Parachute Regiment on his first tour of duty in the North.
On September 30th, 1990, he opened fire on a stolen Vauxhall Astra car along with other members of his patrol who had set up a roadblock on Glen Road in west Belfast. Ms Reilly (18), a back-seat passenger and the driver, Martin Peake (17), were killed.
Clegg was acquitted of attempting to murder Peake but convicted of attempted wounding. He was found guilty of Karen Reilly's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was transferred to Wakefield Jail in England. A public campaign to free him received the support of many in the British establishment. A motion calling for his release was signed by 67 Tory MPs and two million people.
A leading campaigner for Clegg, Mr Andrew Hunter, chairman of the Conservative Northern Ireland Committee, said there was no comparison between "the evil of Irish terrorism and the dreadful mistake Private Clegg made in the heat of the moment".
After only two years in jail, Clegg was freed and, amid intense criticism from nationalist politicians, allowed to resume his military career. He was promoted to lance-corporal and is a PT instructor at the Parachute Regiment training centre in Catterick, north Yorkshire. He had married a Belfast woman with whom he had a son but the marriage broke up while he was in jail.
His release in 1995 led to rioting across the North and was criticised by the UN Human Rights Committee. The then Catholic primate, Cardinal Cahal Daly, described it as a grave blunder.
Despite appeals to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords, Clegg's conviction stood until last year when the courts quashed the guilty verdict and ordered a retrial. In the course of 39 days in Bel fast Crown Court, the defence again argued that Clegg fired four shots because he thought the stolen car would hit a colleague. All the shots were said to have been fired through the windscreen or side of the car. Clegg's defence was described by the prosecution as a tissue of lies. It said he had no lawful excuse for the last of four shots he fired at the car. It argued it was that bullet - which it said went through the back of the car after it had passed and when the soldiers were not in danger - which killed Ms Reilly.
As Mr Justice Kerr delivered his ruling, Mr Sean Reilly sat directly behind Clegg's parents. He left the court without comment. After Clegg's release four years ago, Mr Reilly had pledged to do everything possible to secure justice for his daughter. "It kills me to visit her grave and tell her that her life meant nothing, that if you're Catholic and working-class and from west Belfast, you're treated like dirt," he said.
"If Karen had killed Clegg, she would have been locked in Maghaberry women's prison and they would have thrown away the key, but there is one law for them and another for the rest of us."