Northern Ireland veterans 'will be protected' says Johnson

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Mr Hutchings, 80, who had end-stage renal failure, heart disease, hypertension and atrial fibrillation, had already been investigated twice, in 1974 and 2011, and told no further action was necessary. But in 2015 he was arrested at his home in Cornwall and taken to Belfast for a six-year ordeal, which ended in his death on Monday night after he caught Covid. At his trial earlier this month the prosecution admitted there was no evidence to prove which soldier had fired the shots that hit the victim, John Pat Cunningham.

And yesterday DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson urged the Public Prosecution Service to explain why it went ahead with the trial.

He said: “We are very concerned that Dennis Hutchings, an 80-year-old veteran, a man in ill-health who was on dialysis, was brought before the courts in these circumstances.”

“What was the compelling new evidence that had emerged?

“What was in the public interest to bring this man to trial at this time?”

Mr Hutchings’ solicitor Philip Barden said his client’s dying wish was for the Government to honour its pledge to end the witch-hunt against Northern Ireland veterans.

Former Army officer Johnny Mercer, who was sacked as Defence Minister earlier this year after railing against the Government’s failure to protect the veterans, said the trial had killed his friend.

“Clearly he would not have caught Covid if he wasn’t there. If he had not attended this trial, he would be alive. The trial killed him. And for me that, you know, it’s shocking, it was always the worst outcome.”

He slammed Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis for “missing deadlines” on a promised statute of limitations on Troubles prosecutions. He said: “For a lot of people, it’s a theory, it’s a game. Well, the net impact of that is what we’ve seen over the last 24 hours with Dennis Hutchings. It leaves one feeling pretty sore about the whole thing.”

In July Mr Lewis provoked fury in the province and Eire by proposing a ban on prosecutions of veterans and terrorists for incidents before a deadline, expected to be the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Barden, of law firm Devonshires, said: “I had the honour to look after Dennis Hutchings for 10 years. I was with him on Monday shortly before he passed away. What follows is what he wanted me to say on his behalf. I hope that the Government will now enact a statute of limitation that will end the shameful pursuit of Army veterans in Northern Ireland. This should be known as Dennis’ Law as it is the cause that he fought and died for.”

Mr Hutchings had denied the attempted murder of Mr Cunningham in Co Tyrone in 1974 and a count of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent. Mr Cunningham, 27, was shot in the back after running away from an Army patrol hunting IRA terrorists. He had the mental age of a child and was afraid of soldiers.

Mr Barden said that had Mr Hutchings given evidence at his trial, he would have said that he did not shoot Mr Cunningham but that he had fired “air shots”. Mr Hutchings tried to save Mr Cunningham’s life by applying a field dressing.

He added: “Unless this Government acts then many others will follow Dennis as there are numerous coroner’s inquests and police investigations still under way.”

Mr Hutchings’ fellow veterans condemned the way he had been treated. Alan Barry said: “The authorities need to be brought to account for the way they hounded this man to his grave.

“The judiciary and the politicians who allowed this to happen should hang their heads in shame.”

In a statement for the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, Paul Young and ex-SAS veteran Robin Horsfall said the trial had killed him.

“At the age of 80 during a pandemic he had to fly in a packed aircraft, he had to live in a hotel and sit in a packed court to show that he wasn’t going to be abused and bullied by terrorists. Sadly he couldn’t hold out any longer.”

Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service defended the decision to prosecute Mr Hutchings. Deputy director Michael Agnew said: “We can assure the public that all decision-making was taken impartially and independently and fully in accordance with the PPS Code for Prosecutors.

“We would like to offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mr Hutchings. Our thoughts are also with the family of John Pat Cunningham, who have waited for decades in the hope of seeing due process take its course.”

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Comment by Doug Beattie

As a soldier who served his country, I was never under any illusions about the regulations I worked under.

In Northern Ireland in the 1980s I knew things could go from normal to bad, or worse, in the blink of an eye. Decisions were made in fractions of a second.

Yet those decisions, even if taken at lightning speed, were framed by a clear set of obligations. Woe betide me or my colleagues if we stepped over the line. If you broke the law, you faced the law. That’s why, even today, I will not call for an amnesty for former soldiers, just as I will not back any amnesty for the bombers and the gunmen from all sides of the divide.

But I can still be appalled at the way the case of Dennis Hutchings challenges our faith in the justice system. After all this time what exactly was the compelling new evidence?

Why was it concluded that a prosecution now served the public interest?

The Director of Public Prosecutions used powers under Section 35 (5) of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 to bring cases against a number of military and police personnel, of which Dennis Hutchings was one.

Yet those powers have not been used to bring to trial anyone for terrorist outrages. The focus appears to be firmly on the military. So why were they pushed to the top? Could it, ironically, be because they have been easier to investigate?

In general, incidents involving the security forces were rigorously documented.

Long after the paths of Mr Hutchings and John Pat Cunningham crossed on a winding County Tyrone road, we still have their respective families aggrieved at the process but for entirely different reasons.

Mr Hutchings’ loved ones will regard his treatment as inhumane, akin to hounding, whilst Mr Cunningham’s relatives believe they still don’t have the definitive answer to what happened. It is vital to remove any lingering suspicion that old cases are not being treated with equal weight; that crimes are being judged not on the harm they caused but on who is alleged to have carried them out.

Perception matters, especially in a country where memories are long and not all wounds have healed.

• Doug Beattie is the Ulster Unionist leader

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