Wallace takes aim at ‘shameful’ exploitation of Troubles case

BEN WALLACE has accused “some people” of trying to make “political capital” out of the death of a Troubles veteran in a letter sent to his grieving son.

In what appears to be a sideswipe at Johnny Mercer, his former ministerial colleague, the Defence Secretary cast doubt on the motives of supporters of Dennis Hutchings, the 80-year-old former soldier, who died after contracting Covid midway through his trial.

Mr Mercer had accompanied Mr Hutchings to the court case in Belfast and gave a moving eulogy at his funeral after being asked to do so by his widow.

But in his letter to John Hutchings, the dead soldier’s son, Mr Wallace said that “some people, with questionable motives, have sought to make both political capital and attention-grabbing allegations on the back of a number of court cases”.

In the letter, Mr Wallace went on: “They do Northern Ireland veterans no favours and often pray on their fears. This must also have made a hard situation even worse for you and your family, they should be ashamed.

“Your father behaved with honour to the end; it is sad others have used his case to try to stoke fear in my fellow veterans.”

The letter, sent by email on Oct 31, less than a fortnight after Mr Hutchings had died and prior to his funeral, suggests Mr Wallace used it to taint Mr Mercer. Mr Mercer was not mentioned by name but there is little or no chance he could be talking about anybody else.

Mr Mercer, a former captain in the Army, had resigned from his role as veterans minister over the Government’s failure to bring in legislation to protect troops from prosecution over historic fatalities in Northern Ireland.

Mr Mercer, the Conservative MP for Plymouth, where Mr Hutchings’s funeral was held, has been highly critical of Boris Johnson and his administration, including the Ministry of Defence.

Mr Mercer, who was passed the letter, said it was deeply upsetting that the Defence Secretary had seemingly questioned his motives.

Mr Mercer said: “Ben Wallace served a considerably long time ago as a soldier, for a very short period, with exceptionally limited operational experiences. But even he would know that to suggest another soldier is supporting a veteran’s family for “attention” is simply a line you do not cross.

“I’m unsurprised – he is one of the chief operators of saying one thing in private and quite another in public.

“I understand his private embarrassment with his own inaction on protecting what are supposed to be his generation of veterans from vexatious trials in Belfast.

“I would suggest he directs more efforts towards them, who rightly feel he has consistently betrayed them, rather than me.

“I will find him in private to address this matter in person.”