No proof Veteran was Soldier A, trial told
AN Army veteran charged in relation to the fatal shooting in Northern Ireland of a man with learning difficulties does not accept he fired any shots, his trial has heard.
Westcountry-based Dennis Hutchings, 80, a former member of the Life Guards regiment, has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham in County Tyrone in 1974. He also denies a count of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.
Mr Cunningham, 27, was shot dead as he ran away from an Army patrol across a field near the village of Benburb. People who knew him said he had the mental age of a child.
The second day of the non-jury trial in Belfast Crown Court also heard that Mr Cunningham had been involved in a similar incident with an Army patrol in the same area a year earlier, when soldiers tried to detain him after finding him hiding in bushes “acting suspiciously”.
The court heard he was released when a passing local doctor intervened and explained that Mr Cunningham was his patient and he had learning difficulties.
In relation to the fatal shooting a year later, on June 15, 1974, a defence barrister said Hutchings accepted he was in the field where the incident happened, but nothing else. James Lewis QC also insisted there was no evidence before the court that proved an unnamed soldier referred to in witness statements given by other soldiers following the shooting was the defendant.
On the opening day of the trial, the prosecution contended the individual referred to as Soldier A in the statements was Hutchings. Mr Lewis told judge Mr Justice O’Hara that the defence did not accept the identities of the two soldiers said to have fired five shots at Mr Cunningham – Soldiers A and B – had been proved. “Nothing in the papers before your lordship identifies who Soldiers A or B are,” he said.
Prosecution barrister Charles McCreanor QC indicated the Crown would seek to introduce evidence at a later stage in the trial that proved the identity of Soldier A. The prosecution has said Soldier B is deceased.
Hutchings, from Cawsand in Cornwall, wearing a jacket with military medals pinned to the left breast, sat in the dock and listened to proceedings through a headset.
Judge O’Hara later questioned Mr Lewis on the extent of Hutchings’ admissions. He referenced a defence statement submitted ahead of the trial which stated that, on the issue of whether the defendant fired “aimed shots” at Mr Cunningham, the defence would argue Hutchings only fired “warning shots” in order to make him “comply with a lawful order to halt”.
Responding, Mr Lewis explained that would only be the defence position if the prosecution could establish Hutchings had a case to answer. He said it was for the prosecution to prove Hutchings fired any shots. “The fact he was in the field is not contested, anything more than that is contested,” said the barrister.
The trial continues.