Thrown to the wolves: Agony of ex soldier who’s charged at 75
A BRITISH Army veteran said he had been ‘thrown to the wolves’ over the fatal shooting of an IRA suspect more than 40 years ago.
Dennis Hutchings, 75, has been charged with attempted murder after the killing was re-examined by a legacy unit set up by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
The great-grandfather had previously been assured twice that he would not be dragged before the courts for being in the military unit which gunned down John Pat Cunningham, 27, at the height of the Troubles.
He assisted Northern Ireland’s Historical Enquiries Team (HET), which reviewed the case in 2011, and was told by investigators that the matter was closed.
But in April last year, after the files had been passed to Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service, he was told he would be charged.
Mr Hutchings, who served 26 years in the Life Guards with distinction, is set to stand trial next year for the 1974 Armagh killing – and faces jail if convicted. The veteran, who is seriously ill and has been told he has less than two years to live, has even had his passport confiscated by the Northern Irish authorities.
The former corporal major believes the investigation is designed to appease IRA families.
He spoke out for the first time on Wednesday about his anger at his life being turned upside-down after he was cleared over the events which took place 42 years ago.
Mr Hutchings, of Cornwall, said: ‘I feel anger, totally, totally let down, I feel hung out to dry. That’s what has happened to all of us. We are being thrown to the wolves.
‘I feel betrayed. We all feel betrayed. We were doing our duty, a job that we were sent to do. The big thing about these incidents is that you have seconds to make a decision, not minutes, not hours, but seconds.’
He added: ‘MPs need to get off their backsides and do something about this. It is persecution of the military.’
In June 1974, Mr Hutchings was leading a patrol of four soldiers in Eglish, County Tyrone, when they came across an IRA unit moving firearms and explosives ahead of an attack.
He challenged the group of about ten and a firefight broke out. Four men were arrested and later convicted of terrorist offences, while the rest fled.
Two days later, the troops carried out a search of the area in a bid to track down the missing Republicans and came across Mr Cunningham, who they believed was an armed IRA suspect near the village of Benburb.
As he ran away across a field some members of the patrol opened fire, killing him. It later emerged that the victim was an innocent member of the public who had the mental age of a child between six and ten.
After a Royal Ulster Constabulary probe at the time, the soldiers were told they would face no further action. But in 2011, Mr Hutchings was traced by the HET which was reviewing the shooting. The other two troops present on the day are dead. The Government apologised for the death in 2013.
But when the HET handed over the report in 2013, the PSNI’s legacy investigation branch re-opened the case following a re-examination of the evidence. Even though there is no forensic evidence, no weapons from the time and all the witness are dead, Mr Hutchings was charged with attempted murder – despite Mr Cunningham being killed.
Philip Barden, of Devonshires Solicitors, which is representing Mr Hutchings, said: ‘This is unfair, unjust and clearly political. Dennis Hutchings vehemently denies that he shot John Patrick Cunningham.’