The mother of a teenager who was shot dead by British soldiers has lost her legal fight to end their military careers. Mrs Jean McBride vowed later to fight on but said that she had no faith in British justice.
Mr Peter McBride (18), a father of two, was shot in the back by an army patrol in north Belfast 10 years ago.
Scots Guards James Fisher and Mark Wright later lied, alleging that Mr McBride had been carrying a bomb. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995, but were released on licence in 1998 by Dr Mo Mowlam, the then Northern Secretary, and allowed to return to the army.
In the High Court yesterday Mr Justice Kerr referred to the fact that all soldiers convicted of murder in the North had been allowed to resume their careers. He condemned the soldiers for shooting Mr McBride and then lying, but added: "Not without misgivings, I have concluded that the decision of the army board cannot be condemned as unreasonable."
The ruling was criticised by the Committee on the Administration of Justice. Its director, Mr Martin O'Brien, said: "It is inconceivable, in any other state service, that employees who had committed murder in the course of their employment would be retained in their employment."