JAILED paratrooper Lee Clegg was said to be ''devastated'' yesterday
after hearing that his case will be reviewed -- but not until June.
Mr Simon McKay, the lawyer acting for the Free Clegg Committee told a
news conference after visiting him in jail: ''He is extremely
devastated, and it was a real blow to him.''
Private Clegg, 26, is serving his sentence at the top-security
Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, after the House of Lords rejected his
appeal against conviction for the murder of 18-year-old Karen Reilly,
from Belfast, in September 1990.
The girl was a passenger in a stolen car on which soldiers opened fire
near a military checkpoint in west Belfast. The driver of the car,
Martin Peake, 17, also died in the incident.
Private Clegg was told yesterday that his case will be considered by
the Northern Ireland Life Sentence Review Board at the earliest possible
time at its meeting in June.
The Prison Service said that this followed an internal review of the
case.
A statement added: ''The norm is that cases are considered by the
board for the first time when prisoners have served 10 years in custody.
''However, there are exceptional mitigating factors in this case, such
as those referred to by the trial judge and other members of the
judiciary at the subsequent appeals, which suggest that a much earlier
first review is appropriate.''
Private Clegg has always protested his innocence, and two million
people have signed petitions in his support since the Law Lords rejected
his appeal to reduce murder to manslaughter in January of this year.
He issued a statement through Mr McKay yesterday which said: ''My term
of imprisonment has been made bearable by the huge amount of public
support I have received since my appeal was dismissed in January 1995.
''I have also had the confidence to deal with my situation, but I
believe I am innocent of any crime, despite the tragic nature of Karen
Reilly's death.
''When I received the news this morning at 10.40am while doing my
prison duties I was devastated. It seemed once again I had received a
further blow to my morale.
''I also felt for all those who have helped by signing petitions,
writing to MPs and to those who have written to me personally with their
messages of support.''
Mr McKay said that his client's demeanour in prison is ''as composed
as ever'' despite his and his family's distress.
The lawyer said he was also ''very frustrated'' by the news from the
Northern Ireland Office that they had to wait a further three months
before the case would be considered. However, he remained confident that
new evidence would result in Private Clegg's ultimate acquittal.
Mr McKay said an application had been lodged for his cleient's release
on licence which had not received a substantive response.
Deploring the decision to review the case, Karen Reilly's father, Mr
Sean Reilly, said he was shocked and stunned.
He said: ''Politics are now starting to move into this case. We feel
it is totally wrong, unfair and unjust someone can be considered for
release so soon.''
The review was welcomed by Labour's Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary,
Ms Marjorie Mowlam.
''We want to see this case treated fairly under the normal legal
procedures that apply to all cases where a sentence of life imprisonment
has been passed,'' she said.
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