Calls for tribunal on army reinstatements

The British Government was urged today to consider setting up a new tribunal to rule on ex-soldiers who sought to re-join the…

The British Government was urged today to consider setting up a new tribunal to rule on ex-soldiers who sought to re-join the army after being kicked out.

A report by the independent assessor of military complaints procedures in Northern Ireland also called for hand-held video cameras to be distributed to security forces in flashpoint areas in a bid to identify rioters.

The report by assessor Mr Jim McDonald, which has been handed to Northern Ireland Minister Dr John Reid, disclosed that grievances levelled at the Army fell by nearly 22 per cent last year.

But with the family of a north Belfast teenager murdered by two Scots Guardsmen fighting a decision to allow the men back into military ranks, Mr McDonald insisted outside adjudication was needed.

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He said: "I still feel that the rule of law is undermined by the decision to reinstate and would urge that in contentious cases thought is given to the establishment of an independent appeals panel."

Mr McDonald's call came as relatives of Peter McBride, the 19-year-old shot dead by Mark Wright and James Fisher, plan the next move in their campaign.

Wright and Fisher were jailed for life for murdering the father of two near his home in the nationalist New Lodge area of north Belfast in September 1992.

After serving three years, the soldiers were released and reinstated in the Army.

Solicitors acting on behalf of McBride's mother, Jean, have launched an appeal against a High Court ruling earlier this year which held that the decision to retain the two in the Army was not illegal.

PA