Two Scottish soldiers who murdered a Belfast teenager, Mr Peter McBride, in 1992 could soon be freed following a ruling in the Northern Ireland High Court yesterday.
Mr Justice Girvan quashed a decision not to refer the cases of Scots Guards James Fisher and Mark Wright to the Life Sentence Review Board until "late 1998."
The judge upheld an application for judicial review of the cases and directed they should go back to the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, for reconsideration.
Their solicitor said. "It means they have been given an opportunity for release earlier than the 1998 review."
But the development was criticised by the victim's father, Mr Peter McBride. "I don't think anyone should be interfering with the life sentences for shooting my son."
Fisher (27) from Ayr, and Wright (22) from Arbroath, claimed they were being treated less favourably than Private Ian Thain and Paratrooper Lee Clegg, who were released after serving fewer than four years of their life sentences.