TWO Scottish soldiers, sentenced to life Imprisonment in 1994 for murdering a Belfast teenager, have made progress in their appeal for an early review of their sentences.
The soldiers, in Maghaberry Prison, Co Antrim, lost their appeals last December and were later refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords. But they have now won the right to challenge the refusal by the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, to refer their cases to the Life Sentence Review Board immediately.
Scots Guards James Fisher and Mark Wright were granted leave to apply for a judicial review of a decision not to review their sentences immediately.
Fisher (27), from Glendale Place, Belmont, Ayr, and Wright, (22), from Glebe Road, Arbroath, Tayside, were convicted at Belfast Crown Court in February, 1994, of murdering Peter McBride (18), who was shot near his New Lodge home in 1992.
In affidavits lodged in the High Court in Belfast, they stated they had served four years when their time in custody on remand was taken into account.
They described the decision not to refer their case to the review board for another two years as unreasonable. Leave to apply for judicial review was granted by Mr Justice Kerr.