From Pat Finucane Centre

Scots Guards Judicial review

27.3.2001

The family of murdered Belfast teenager Peter McBride return to the High Court in Belfast this Thursday, 29 March, to hear a second judicial review into the British Army's decision to allow the two Scots Guards convicted of his murder to remain in the British army. The hearing will last two days.

The Army Board announced its decision in November 2000, citing among other reasons the soldier's ages, the tense security situation at the time and the amount of training the soldier's had been given. These reasons were cited as the 'exceptional circumstances' which allowed them to remain in the army despite being convicted of murder in a court of law. Speaking on behalf of the McBride family, Paul O'Connor of the Pat Finucane Centre said: "These excuses are strikingly similar to the 'error of judgement' already cited by the Army Board and rejected by Justice Kerr in September 1999, because it contradicted the judgement of the court which convicted the two in 1995." In documents submitted to the Army Board the legal representatives of the Guardsmen sought to argue that they were not guilty of murder.

In a sworn affidavit the then Commanding Officer, Lt Col Tim Spicer, speculates that Peter Mc Bride may have been leading the guardsmen into a trap and was preparing to throw a coffee jar bomb over his shoulder at a range of over 70 metres when shot. Spicer's affidavit is deeply insulting to the Mc Bride family. In light of this and other arguments submitted to the Board on behalf of the Guardsmen it beggars belief that Board members could come to the conclusion that Mark Wright and James Fisher had learnt a "bitter and lasting lesson".

In other parts of the world such double standards do not exist." Mr O'Connor cited Germany, where the two Scots Guards are currently serving, where it is forbidden for anyone convicted of a criminal offence to be enlisted in the armed forces, and where the Government has raised questions about the appropriateness of the two serving on German soil. November's Army Board decision was also condemned unanimously by DE1il C9ireann, and the question has been raised in Westminster as well as in the European Parliament. The Independent Assessor on Military Complaints has also condemned the decision. The question facing Justice Kerr is fundamental: Is the British Army above the law?"
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Background
September 4 1992. Peter Mc Bride, 18 year-old father of two young daughters, was stopped by a foot patrol of the Scots Guards in Spamount St, off the New Lodge Rd in Belfast. After an identity check and a thorough body search, which found him to be unarmed, Peter ran from the patrol and was chased by the soldiers. During the chase the soldier in charge ordered his men " don't shoot". Seconds later a witness heard the words "shoot the bastard ". Two soldiers, Guardsmen Mark Wright and Jim Fisher, shot at him, hitting him twice in the back from a range of some 70 yards. Peter, seriously wounded, stumbled through a house before collapsing in the back entry behind his sister's house.

The Aftermath
The two soldiers were taken to Girdwood Army Barracks and the RUC were denied access to the men for at least 10 hours. A protest march was held calling for the withdrawal of the British Army from the area. The Minister for Foreign Affairs in Dublin, David Andrews, called for an immediate independent investigation. An Editorial in the Irish Times (5.9.1992) said "there is little doubt that he posed no threat to the soldiers who shot him" while an Irish News editorial on the same day, commenting on a possible official investigation said, " One can already visualise the buckets of whitewash being flown in to deal with the present incident". The day after the killing Guardsmen Wright and Fisher were charged with murder.

Spring of 1994 The trial began at Belfast crown court before Lord Chief Justice Kelly. Fisher claimed that he opened fire because he believed that Peter Mc Bride was leading the patrol into a trap and would throw a coffee jar bomb at them. Wright, who was yards away from his fellow guardsman when he opened fire, alleged that he believed the dead man had opened fire on them.

February, 10, 1995 the two were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge stated "I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that there is no reasonable possibility that Guardsman Fisher held or may have held an honest belief that the deceased carried or may have carried a coffee jar bomb". In relation to Wright the judge made it clear that "this is not a panic situation which required split second action or indeed any action at all".

March 1996 Leave to appeal to the House of Lords was denied . Though all legal avenues had now been exhausted the family warned of a "Clegg-style" campaign to free the two.

Feb 10 1997 Prominent former Scots Guards officers and members of the establishment announced their support of a high profile campaign, spearheaded by the Daily Mail, to release the two, citing "tragic error of judgement". The campaign prompted two unsuccessful complaints to the Press Council regarding the misleading and inaccurate nature of some of the press coverage, in particular in the Daily Mail.

May 13 1998. Dr John Reid, the new Minister of State for the Armed Forces, expressed his "concern" over the Guardsmen's continued imprisonment after meeting those campaigning on their behalf. Dr Reid refused numerous requests for a meeting with the Mc Bride family.

July 1998. Secretary of State Dr Mo Mowlam, in a meeting with the McBride family and the Pat Finucane Centre, promised that the two would not be among the first wave of prisoners released under the new legislation.

September 2 1998. The soldiers were released from Maghaberry Prison, Co Antrim. They were flown to Catterick barracks in Yorkshire to meet their Commanding Officer. The McBride family expressed their outrage at the timing of the release, the week of the anniversary of Peter's murder

November 3 1998. The Army Board decided that Guardsmen Wright and Fisher may continue their careers in the services under an 'exceptional circumstances' clause. According to the Army Board the Guardsmen had committed an 'error of judgement'. Dr Mowlam expressed her view that the two should be dismissed from the British Army.

December 1998 The Mc Bride family, accompanied by legal representatives and a member of the Pat Finucane Centre, met with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD who promised his full support for their campaign.

26 January 1999 The McBride family and a Pat Finucane Centre representative met Doug Henderson, Armed Forces Minister and member of the Army Board, and urged a dishonourable discharge in light of the fact that the two are still convicted murderers. Following a heated exchange Mrs Mc Bride walked out of the meeting.

June 1999 Following this meeting Mrs Mc Bride applied to the Northern Ireland High Court for leave to challenge the Army Board's decision by way of judicial review. Judge Kerr granted leave for a judicial review.

Sept 6, 1999 Justice Kerr gave judgement that a new Army Board must be constituted to reconsider the future of the guardsmen because the basis of its original finding, that there had been an 'error of judgement', contradicted Justice Kelly's original judgement.

Meanwhile, as the Mc Bride family awaited a new Army Board hearing, the two convicted murderers were sent to Kosovo as peacekeepers...other members of the Armed Forces found guilty of football related hooliganism and possession of illegal drugs have been dismissed.

April 2000 A new Army Board is set to reconsider the case. As a result, members of the Mc Bride family and campaigners hand in a letter to Prime Minister Blair at 10 Downing St on Monday April 10. In July a Downing St spokesperson admits that no reply was sent to the Mc Bride family because the letter had been 'lost'.

September 2000 The Mc Bride family again hand in an A1 sized letter to 10 Downing St to replace the 'lost' letter.

November 24 2000 A newly constituted Army Board makes known its decision to allow the two guardsmen to remain in the Army. The decision is condemned by the Independent Assessor on Military Complaints, the Catholic Primate Dr Sean Brady and many others. Legal representatives are now studying possible legal challenges to the decision. The Mc Bride family are demanding a face to face meeting with the Minister of Defence Geoff Hoon. The members of the Army Board who made the decision were John Spellar MP, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Major General Judd, Quartermaster General and General Sir Mike Jackson, Commander in Chief Land Command. The latter served as a member of the Parachute Regiment in Derry on Bloody Sunday as Adjutant and temporary Press Officer to Colonel Derek Wilford. A transcript of the relevant sections of the Army Board's decision can be accessed at www.serve.com/pfc.

December 1 2000 Protesters stage another international Day of Action, with events in Belfast, London, Birmingham, Germany, Australia, Canada and the USA. On the morning of the day of action the PFC receive an official British Army Christmas card, signed by 'All Ranks, the Scots Guards, Nanyuki, Kenya.' Further investigation revealed that the Scots Guards were based there at the time. If the card had not been delayed in the post it would have arrived on the morning of Peter's birthday.

December 13 2000 A motion condemning the Army Board's decision is passed unanimously in Dail Eireann.

December 19 2000 Leave is granted in the High Court in Belfast for a second judicial review into the Army Board's decision, with the date for the review set for 5 February 2001.

December 24 2000 British tabloid newspaper the News of the World prints an apology to Jean McBride following an earlier article which totally misrepresented the facts surrounding the murder of her son and the campaign to have his killers removed from the army.

January 4 2001 The German Government reviews its decision to allow the two convicted of the murder of Peter McBride to continue to serve in Germany. German Defence Minister Rudolph Scharping confirmed that he was taking steps to obtain further details on the case.

January 25 2001 Dr John Reid, ex-Minister of State for the Armed Forces who has previously shown support for the retention of the two Scots Guards, is appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

February 5 2001 The judicial review has to be adjourned until 29 March after the MoD neglected to lodge the appropriate papers with the court in time for the review to begin.

March 29 2001 The second judicial review into the Army Board's decision to allow the two Scots Guards to remain in the army begins in the High Court in Belfast.