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4th of September, 2002
Wednesday, September 4th marks the tenth anniversary of the murder of Peter McBride in Belfast by two members of the Scots Guards Regiment, Mark Wright and James Fisher. Despite their convictions for murder the two men remain serving soldiers and are based at the Oxford Barracks in Munster in Germany. The decision by an Army Board to allow the two to remain in the British Army is currently at the centre of a legal challenge in the High Court in Belfast.
The retention of the two in the British Army has been condemned by Amnesty International, church leaders, the Independent Assessor on Military Complaints, the entire Irish parliament, members of the European, British, Australian, Canadian and German Parliaments, US Congress and trade union leaders.
At a recent meeting Secretary of State Dr John Reid promised the family that he would support their request for a meeting with the Prime Minister. To date there has been no positive response from Downing St.
Commenting on the anniversary Jean Mc Bride said, "This Government is hoping we will go away. It is an ongoing insult to the memory of my son to allow the two men convicted of his murder to remain in the British Army. This campaign will go on each and every day that they remain serving soldiers. I have said it before and I repeat it on Peter’s anniversary …I will haunt Tony Blair until he does the decent thing. Then and only then can my family find peace."
To mark the anniversary supporters of the Mc Bride family will take to the streets in London, Belfast and Sheffield. In London protesters will distribute An Unauthorised Guide to the Tower of London in and around the famous landmark. The guide will highlight the case of Peter Mc Bride through reference to one of the regiments responsible for ceremonial duties at the Tower, the Scots Guards. The Guide will also refer to the role of the current ‘Constable’ in overall charge of the Tower of London, General Sir Roger Wheeler, who sat on the original Army Board which decided to allow the two guardsmen to remain soldiers despite the murder conviction. The protest will last from 1pm to 4pm and supporters should take the tube to Tower Hill Station.
In Sheffield supporters will picket the local Armed Forces Recruitment Office at Church St from 12.30-2pm.
In Belfast a vigil will be held at the City Hall between 1 and 2pm. Chalk crime scene figures will be drawn on the pavement in the immediate area of City Hall.
Let them know what you think
Email, fax and phone messages should be sent to:
PM Tony Blair: remote-printer.Hon_Tony_Blair@441718399044.iddd.tpc.int Tel Downing St at 0207 930 4433 Fax 0207 925 0918 Contact the Armed Forces Minister at public@ministers.mod.uk Tel 0207 2186666 Contact the Ministry of Defence at webmaster@army.mod.uk Tel Adjutant General Secretariat 01980 615979 The British Information Service in the USA Public.Enquiries@newyork.mail.fco.gov.uk British High Commission, Australia Phone: (02) 6270 6666 (main switch) Fax: (02) 6273 3236 British High Commission, Canada High Commissioner: Sir Andrew Burns Deputy High Commissioner: Richard Codrington Email: rcodrington@britainincanada.org British Defence Liaison Staff, Canada Defence Adviser: Brigadier Chris Day Tel.: (613) 237 1542 x 369 The British Embassy, Germany Tel +49 (0)30 20457-0 info@britischebotschaft.de.Brief introduction to the case of Peter Mc Bride September 1992 - September 2002
September 4, 1992.
Peter Mc Bride, 18 year-old father of two young daughters, is stopped and searched, then shot dead minutes later by members of a patrol of Scots Guards in the New Lodge area of Belfast. Two soldiers are taken to Girdwood Army Barracks, where the RUC are denied access to the men for at least 10 hours. The next day Guardsmen Wright and Fisher are charged with murder.February 10, 1995. The two are convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
March 1996. Leave to appeal to the House of Lords was denied.
Feb 10, 1997. A high profile campaign to release the two begins, spearheaded by the right wing press. The Daily Mail in particular publishes a series of inaccurate, deliberately misleading and racist articles about the case.
May 13, 1998. Dr John Reid, then Minister of State for the Armed Forces, expresses 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 and justified the use of MoD property by those campaigning on behalf of convicted murderers.
July 1998. At a meeting Secretary of State Dr Mo Mowlam promised the McBride family 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, 2 days before the sixth anniversary of Peter’s murder, in advance of other prisoner releases and outside terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
November 3, 1998. The Army Board decides that Wright and Fisher may continue their careers in the services under an ‘exceptional circumstances’ clause.
December 1998. The McBride family and a Pat Finucane Centre representative meet with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD in Dublin. The Irish prime minister promises to press for the immediate dismissal of the two guardsmen.
January 26, 1999. The McBride family and a Pat Finucane Centre representative met Doug Henderson, Armed Forces Minister and member of the Army Board. After a heated exchange Mrs Mc Bride walks out of the meeting.
June 1999. Mrs Mc Bride applies to the Northern Ireland High Court for leave to challenge the Army Board’s decision by way of judicial review.
Sept 6, 1999. Justice Kerr gave judgement that a new Army Board must reconsider the future of the guardsmen.
April 10, 2000. Members of the Mc Bride family hand in a letter to 10 Downing St. Later 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 hand in an A1 sized letter to 10 Downing St to replace the ‘lost’ letter.
November 24, 2000. A new Army Board again decides to allow the two guardsmen to remain in the Army. The decision is condemned by the Independent Assessor on Military Complaints, the Catholic Primate, the Presbyterian Moderator and others.
December 1, 2000. International Day of Action with pickets and protests worldwide.
December 13, 2000. A motion condemning the Army Board’s decision is passed unanimously in Dail Eireann, the Irish parliament.
December 24, 2000. The News of the World prints an apology to Jean McBride after an earlier article which totally misrepresented the facts surrounding the murder of her son and her campaign for justice.
January 4, 2001. The German Government expresses concern following confirmation that the two convicted murderers are based in Germany. German Government officials maintain contact with the Irish Embassy regarding the case.
February 5, 2001. The second judicial review is adjourned after the MoD neglected to lodge the appropriate papers in time.
March 29, 2001. The judicial review begins in the High Court in Belfast.
May 24, 2001. International Day of Action, with events in the USA, Australia, England and Germany.
June 2001. The regimental band of the Scots Guards Regiment of the British Army are scheduled to perform at a festival in Siena, Italy. Following the intervention of the Mc Bride family the invitation is cancelled. The MoD refuses to comment on the cancellation.
June 25, 2001. Belfast’s High Court hears final submissions in the second judicial review.
September 4, 2001. Members of the PFC joined over friends, supporters and members of the McBride family in a two hour long peaceful vigil at the junction of the Antrim and New Lodge Roads in Belfast. The vigil, led by Jean McBride, mother of 19-year-old Peter McBride, James Wright and Mark Fisher, was held close to the spot where he was killed. In Germany supporters of the Peter McBride campaign handed a petition of over 1000 signatures to the German Foreign and Defence Ministries, protesting against the presence of the two convicted murderers among the British Forces there.
April 17, 2002. Judgement on the second judicial review delivered by Justice Kerr in Belfast High Court. The Army Board decision to retain the soldiers is upheld. Solicitors for the family file an appeal which is due to be heard in the autumn of 2002. In essence the judge decides that the second army board decision was not illegal since other soldiers, also convicted of murder while on duty in N.Ireland, had also been allowed to remain the army. The decision was widely condemned as being based on the flawed logic that two wrongs made a right. The Irish Government expresses concern at the judgement.
May 13, 2002. As the Queen arrives in Belfast the Mc Bride family place a full page advert in the Irish News. The text of the full page advert concludes… "You are Colonel-in-Chief of the Scots Guards and the Irish Guards regiments. They form part of the Household Division. Their role is to protect your palaces, your castles and, most importantly, your family. As you celebrate your anniversary and we await ours I will leave you with two questions…mother to mother. Is it a source of pride to be Colonel-in-Chief of a regiment which harbours the convicted murderers of my son? Is it a source of pride to be head of state of the only democratic country in the world that rearms convicted murderers and welcomes them into the ranks of its armed forces?"
May 28, 2002. Members of the Mc Bride family, accompanied by the PFC, meet with the Secretary of State John Reid who promises to lobby for a meeting with the PM. Following the meeting the SoS holds a unscheduled press conference with the Mc Bride family during which he admits that Peter Mc Bride was murdered and a terrible wrong was done to the family. Soon after the Government offer the family a meeting with the Minister of State for the Armed Forces Adam Ingram MP. This is refused on the basis that a meeting with the Prime Minister had been promised.
June 19, 2002. A member of the Pat Finucane Centre travels to Munster, Germany where the two Scots Guards are based. Meetings are held with the local MP who sits on the defence sub committee of the German parliament, trade union leaders representing civilian workers at the local British Army base, the Lord Mayors office, and the regional leader of the SPD. Regional press give extensive coverage to the press conference. Subsequent to the visit the local MP raises the issue with the BAOR and the British Embassy and expresses serious concern that convicted (and armed) murderers are based on German soil.
June 2002. Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan (SDLP) writes to PM Blair calling for the dismissal of the two Scots Guards from the British Army.
July 4, 2002. In a TV interview Ludovic Kennedy calls for compensation to be paid to the two Scots Guards. The call has no legal basis and brings an angry reaction from the family.
September 4, 2002. The tenth anniversary of the murder. Despite arrest, trial and prosecution for murder the two soldiers remain members of the British armed forces ten years on.
A full briefing on the case can be found on the Pat Finucane Centre’s website: www.serve.com/pfc