Two Scots Guardsmen convicted of murdering Peter McBride (18) in 1992 have been released from prison in the North. Guardsmen James Fisher (30) and Mark Wright (25) shot and killed the unarmed father of two in the New Lodge area of Belfast, saying that they feared he had been carrying a coffee-jar bomb. This was later rejected by the soldiers' trial judge after evidence that another member of the army patrol had searched Mr McBride moments before he ran away and was shot in the back.
Yesterday's announcement of the releases was condemned by the nationalist community in the North.
The McBride family has said it feels "betrayed and deceived" by the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, who released the men because the murder was not premeditated and the men had been on duty to counter terrorism.
The McBride family has expressed its anger at being informed of the soldiers' release only half an hour before the two guardsmen were freed from Maghaberry prison on life licence. The family has also criticised the timing of the announcement, as tomorrow marks the sixth anniversary of Mr McBride's death.
In July, Dr Mowlam said that she intended to review the case, but she promised the McBride family that the soldiers would not be among the first wave of prisoners to be freed. Their release yesterday comes before the first releases of paramilitary prisoners next week.
Mr McBride's father said yesterday that Dr Mowlam had breached their trust and had been "insensitive" in her timing of the releases. "It proves there is one law for one and one law for another", he said.
Dr Mowlam last night issued an apology to the McBride family: "I am very sad for the pain it has caused the McBride family. I phoned Mrs McBride but failed to get to Mr McBride. I can only apologise to him because it is unforgivable to hear that news on the radio."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said that the concerns expressed by Mr Peter McBride Senior could only be met with the "very deepest of sympathy".
Mr Andrews said that, in considering whether or not to dismiss the two guardsmen, the British army review board "might take account of the fact that they had been convicted of murder". He added that Dr Mowlam had decided to release them "in the context of the peace process as a totality".
The SDLP Assembly member for North Belfast, Mr Alban Maginness, said that the release of the guardsmen represented an "international scandal". He added: "They have, in effect, been given preferential treatment by the government, and this flies in the face of justice. To add insult to injury, the soldiers are to be readmitted to the British army."
The Sinn Fein Assembly member for North Belfast, Mr Gerry Kelly, believed that in releasing the soldiers the British government had ignored the structures set up for prisoner releases under the Belfast Agreement. He described the releases as "evidence of the arrogant, colonial mentality which has constantly treated Irish people as second class".
A spokeswoman for Relatives for Justice, Mrs Eilish McCabe, whose brother, Mr Aidan McAnespie (23), was shot on his way home from a Gaelic football match in 1988, also condemned the decision to release the soldiers.
The family of Guardsman Wright were overjoyed at his release after six years in custody. His parents, Douglas and Isobel Wright, have always maintained that he did not commit a crime.