McBride sister stands in election

Kelly McBride won 189 votes in the parliamentary by-election

The sister of a Belfast teenager shot dead by two soldiers has stood in the Brent East parliamentary by-election.

Kelly McBride said she was bringing the campaign to have her brother's killers thrown out of the Army right to the heart of political debate in Britain.

Scots Guards Mark Wright and James Fisher were convicted of the 1992 murder of 18-year-old Peter McBride, but were allowed to stay in the military.

Mr McBride was shot after being stopped and searched by the soldiers while they were on patrol near his home in the New Lodge area of north Belfast on 4 September, 1992.

The pair were sentenced to life for murder and served six years of their sentence.

Upon their release from prison, they were allowed to rejoin their regiment.

Miss McBride received 189 votes after a week of canvassing in the constituency, beating eight other candidates in the election won by the Liberal Democrats.

Sarah Teather topped the poll by more than 1,100 votes, overturning a 13,047 majority and marking Labour's first loss of a Commons seat in a by-election for 15 years.

She has given her support to the McBride family's campaign and said she intended to raise the issue in the Commons.

Speaking after the vote, Miss McBride said: "All we want is justice, I don't know why that seems so wrong to other people.

New MP Sarah Teather said she would raise issue in parliament

"Any decisions on behalf of my brother's case were all made here (London). I decided to bring our campaign here and now a lot of people know about my brother's case.

"Sarah says that she will bring it up in parliament.

"I got 189 votes and that is 189 more people who know about my brother's case, and I beat eight other people."

Ms McBride said although she did not expect to win, the election had been an opportunity for Brent East's Irish community and anyone interested in human rights to show their support.

At their trial, guardsmen Wright and Fisher said they believed Mr McBride was carrying a bomb.

But the judge, Lord Justice Kelly, found they were lying as they had already stopped and searched him.

The pair were jailed in 1995 for life for his murder but were released three years later and were allowed to rejoin their regiment.

In June, the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that the soldiers should not have been allowed back but stopped short of ordering the Army to dismiss them.

Wright and Fisher were both convicted of murder

The by-election took place on Thursday after Labour MP Paul Daisley died of cancer in June, aged just 45.

Labour candidate Robert Evans received 7,040 votes compared with Ms Teather's 8,158, while the Conservative candidate Uma Fernandes was beaten into third place with 3,368 votes.

The 29% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats is the largest for almost a decade, and is being described by commentators as one of the most stunning turnarounds in British electoral history.