The annual regimental parade of Scots Guards in London this weekend will be used to highlight the case of two of its guardsmen who are serving life sentences for the murder of Belfast teenager Peter McBride.
Mark Wright and Jim Fisher were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992 for shooting Peter McBride in the back as he ran away from a British army patrol in Belfast. The Independent MP Mr Martin Bell, the Tory MP Mr Andrew Hunter and the Labour MP Mr Frank Cook will lead the annual guards' parade on Sunday.
The two men will be remembered in prayers by the regiment, which believes they too are victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland. The families of Wright and Fisher will also attend the regimental parade and 60 pipers from the regiment will play a new tune called Freedom, which has been specially composed for the parade and is dedicated to the men.
Wright's and Fisher's supporters yesterday criticised the Government's decision to release nine IRA prisoners from Portlaoise Prison on Tuesday while the men remained in prison in Northern Ireland. The soldiers are serving their life sentences in Maghaberry Prison. The chairman of the Fisher and Wright Release Group, Gen Murray Naylor, said yesterday: "It cannot be right that convicted murderers and terrorists are released while soldiers such as Fisher and Wright remain in jail."