The British paratrooper Lee Clegg (30) began his retrial for the murder of a Belfast teenager in the High Court in Belfast yesterday.
Clegg sat in the dock between two guards to hear the prosecution outline its case against him. Wearing a grey suit and blue shirt he spoke only to confirm his name.
Outside the court supporters of the soldier, who was allowed to remain in the British army after his release on licence, said they were hopeful his name would be cleared this time.
The paratrooper was convicted in 1993 of murdering Ms Karen Reilly (18), the back-seat passenger in a stolen car.
He had opened fire on the car on September 30th, 1990, with other members of his patrol who had formed a road block on the Glen Road in west Belfast to stop car thieves.
The driver of the car, Martin Peake (17), was also killed.
Sir Patrick Mayhew, the former Northern Ireland secretary, freed the soldier in 1995 after he had served less than four years of a life sentence.
Clegg went on to win the chance to clear his name in February when the Northern Ireland Appeal Court quashed his conviction and ordered a retrial.
The soldier, who has since been made a corporal, faces a new mandatory life sentence if he is found guilty a second time. But legal sources say it is highly unlikely he would be returned to jail.