Pat Finucane Centre (Derry):

Brief introduction to the case of Peter Mc Bride September 1992-October 2000

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 23 1998 At a meeting between the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, the Mc Bride family, campaigners and legal representatives, the Prime Minister promised to bring pressure on the British Government to reverse the Army Board decision.

January 26 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.they have since returned. 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 In early September supporters of the Mc Bride family held protests and vigils in Derry, Belfast, New York and in Sydney where the British Consulate was closed as a result of a picket. The issue was also raised at the European Parliament by Irish MEP Patricia Mc Kenna. In London Jean Mc Bride, mother of the victim, handed in a letter at Downing St following news that an earlier letter to number 10 had been 'lost'.

October 2000 Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament Ben Wallace, calls for the dismissal from the British Army of a member of the Royal Highland Fusiliers who was videoed dancing and singing on the empty grave of a dead Kosovar. Wallace, a former member of the Scots Guards, has been to the fore supporting the two men convicted of the murder of Peter Mc Bride. In the world according to Wallace a Scottish soldier who dances and sings on a gravesite should be dismissed while two soldiers who put an innocent youth in a grave should be retained in the army.

December 1 2000 As the Ministry of Defence continues to effectively ignore the September 1999 court ruling a further Day of Protest is planned.