By Pat Finucane Centre, Derry

On Monday August 11 Jean McBride, mother of murdered teenager Peter McBride, will meet NIO Minister John Spellar MP at Castle Buildings. The meeting is scheduled for 4pm.

When he was Armed Forces Minister, Spellar sat on a British Army Board which ruled that the Scots Guardsmen convicted of the 1992 murder could remain serving soldiers contrary to internal army regulations. The Court of Appeal recently found that no ‘exceptional reasons’ existed justifying retention of the soldiers in the British Army. The ruling of an earlier Army Board was also overturned in the courts.

Speaking ahead of Monday’s meeting Mrs McBride commented,

“I expect to hear precise details of how soon this government intends righting the wrong that was done to my family and to the memory of Peter. I want to know when, not if, the men who murdered my son are to be expelled from the British Army. If a soldier who cheats on a TV quiz show is not seen as fit for the British Army then this government needs reminding that the murder of another human being is a lot more serious than cheating.”

A spokesperson for the Pat Finucane Centre who will accompany the McBride family to the meeting added,

“John Spellar has the Equality, Human Rights and Criminal Justice portfolios in the NIO. If he doesn’t deliver in regards to the McBride case then clearly he isn’t fit to hold office.”

Spellar had earlier refused to meet Mrs McBride but agreed following a boycott of his office by the SDLP and Sinn Fein.

Further background at www.serve.com/pfc