The British legal and security establishment closed ranks on the 11th of March 1999 when at the Belfast Court of Appeal British Paratrooper Lee Clegg was aquitted of the murder of unarmed Twinbrook teenager Karen Reilly, despite Judge Kerr finding that Clegg and the military establishment had lied to the court regarding the circumstances of the British Para's attack on the stolen car that was driven by Martin Peake who later died and in which Karen Reilly was a passenger.

Clegg had told the court that his patrol had been warned by British army intelligence to expect a republican attack in the Lenadoon area on that night and that is why they opened fire on the car. In the Brits' original statement they had claimed that the stolen car had driven at them at speed, hitting one of the patrol and injuring him, and it was only then that they opened fire.

Judge Kerr reached his decision to clear Clegg of Karen Reilly's murder on the basis that it couldn't prove that he fired the fatal shot.

Clegg however has been found guilty of wounding the driver of the car, Martin Peake. It should be remembered that Martin Peake died as a result of his injuries. Clegg's lawyers are to appeal that decision.

Following the trial, IRSP spokesperson Jimmy Bradly said, "There is no surprise within the nationalist community at the result of this appeal. We are in no doubt that Clegg will also be aquitted on the wounding charges. Many will recall that the British establishment and judiciary had absolutely no qualms about arresting hundreds of nationalists in the wake of the killing of the two British Army personnel in what became known as the Casement trials. A number of men were later convicted on the flimsiest of evidence, ie, they were in Andersonstown at the time."