Murderers to be retained in British Army

The British Ministry of Defence has today informed the Pat Finucane Centre and solicitors for the family of Peter Mc Bride that the two Scots Guards convicted of the 1992 murder of the North Belfast teenager are to be retained in the British Army. Jean Mc Bride, mother of the 18 year old victim, is "completely devastated by the decision. But if they think I'm going to give up they have another thing coming. They think Peter's life was worth nothing, shoot him in the back and forget him. We will fight on until these two murderers are kicked out. Tony Blair should be ashamed of himself. The anniversary of Peter's birthday is next week and if they think I brought my son into this world to have him murdered and forgotten then they just don't understand what it is to be a mother."

News that the two are to be retained came in a brief fax from the Adjutant General Secretariat's office this morning. No explanation was given. A previous Army Board ruling allowing for the two to be retained was overthrown in September 1999 following a judicial review in Belfast High Court by the Mc Bride family. Following this ruling a newly constituted Army Board was set up.

A spokesperson for the Pat Finucane Centre vowed to contest this latest blow for the Mc Bride family. "We are taking immediate legal advice with a view to overturning this disgraceful, insulting, racist decision. Since Wright and Fisher were convicted in 1995 over 1400 soldiers have been dismissed following positive drug tests yet two men who were convicted of shooting a teenager in the back are allowed to remain the 'Her majesty's Armed Forces'. Now its official. 'Her Majesty' employs murderers. Is Britain the land of hope and glory or the land of arrogance and shame? This was clearly a racist decision by the Army Board. Peter Mc Bride was a working class Irish Catholic, a non-person."

 The planned International Day of Protest in support of the Mc Bride will go ahead on December 1.20

 A full background and chronology on the case is available online at: www.serve.com/pfc