A CAMPAIGN group has criticised a High Court ruling that a British soldier who partially blinded a Catholic schoolboy with a plastic bullet was justified.
The United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets (UCAPB) spoke out after Lurgan man Gavin McKenna lost a compensation claim last month.
He was 13 when he suffered permanent eye damage after being struck by a plastic bullet fired by a member of the Royal Irish Regiment in the nationalist Kilwilkie estate in 1997.
Giving evidence Mr McKenna recalled being hit by the plastic bullet as he stood up in a field during disturbances in the area but denied involvement in any trouble.
A former British soldier told the court he was ordered to fire at a youth, who had a Celtic scarf over his face, who was preparing to throw a rock.
Mr McKenna had sued the Ministry of Defence for negligence but his claim for £225,000 compensation was rejected by Mr Justice McAlinden last month.
During summing up the judge said the Catholic teenager was not the intended target nor part of a crowd that moved towards British soldiers in the area.
The judge acknowledged it was "very unfortunate" that Mr McKenna had been struck and seriously injured.
"Be that as it may, I have found that the circumstances in which (the soldier) fired the baton gun and the manner in which he fired the baton gun were entirely justified on the night in question".
The judge also cited Mr McKenna's membership of Republican Sinn Féin.
In a letter to the Irish News, Mark Kelly, chair of the UCAPB, registered the campaign group's disappointment at the ruling.
His 12-year-old sister Carol Ann Kelly was shot dead by a plastic bullet fired by a British soldier in Twinbrook, on the outskirts of west Belfast in 1981.
"To say that we are appalled at the recent judgment by Justice McAlinden rejecting compensation to a person blinded in one eye after being shot by a plastic bullet would be an understatement," he said.
Mr Kelly highlighted the dangers posed by plastic bullets.
"We do not accept that plastic bullets are safe or that any circumstances exist that make them safe or justified to use," he said.
"They are lethal weapons and are used indiscriminately, even when used in accordance with so-called guidelines; a convenient cover that permits their continued use."
Mr Kelly added that the use of plastic bullets should ended.
"Plastic bullets have absolutely no place whatsoever in our society and must be banned."
His solicitor Gavin Booth, of Phoenix law said "we are highly disappointed" at the decision and confirmed he intends to appealing.
A spokesman for the Office of the Lord Chief Justice said: "This office cannot comment on an individual judicial decision which will have been reached based on evidence presented in court."
