Family fury as ex-soldier denied Army send-off
THE son of Dennis Hutchings has called on the Defence Secretary to reverse the ban on soldiers carrying the coffin of his father – pointing out that even the disgraced Jimmy Savile was given a military funeral.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has insisted that Mr Hutchings, 80, was not a serving soldier at the time of his death and therefore is not eligible for a military funeral. But his family have pointed out that Savile – later unmasked as a child sex attacker – was accorded military honours even though he was not a serviceman.
Mr Hutchings, who lived in Cawsand, Cornwall, contracted Covid-19 and died while on trial in Northern Ireland over a fatal shooting which happened almost 50 years ago. The former member of the Life Guards regiment was charged with attempted murder over the fatal shooting of John Patrick Cunningham, a 27-year-old man with serious learning difficulties, in 1974.
Mr Cunningham was shot in the back as he ran from an Army patrol in Benburb, County Tyrone. Mr Hutchings denied attempting to murder and causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Cunningham, but his death in Belfast put an end to the trial.
Savile, among the most prolific sex offenders in recent British history, was granted the honour of seven Royal Marines carrying his coffin in 2011.
Mr Hutchings’ family suspect that their father and grandfather is being denied military pall-bearers because he had been unable to clear his name before his death. His son John Hutchings, 48, told The Daily Telegraph: “It is shocking that my dad is being refused military pallbearers after serving 26 years in the Army, and yet Savile had Royal Marines carry his coffin. How can they give Savile a military send-off but not my father? It’s disgusting.”
John Hutchings has said he will now be writing to Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, to persuade him to reverse his decision ahead of the funeral planned for Armistice Day. The funeral in Plymouth is expected to draw in thousands of veterans who stood by Mr Hutchings during his trial.
Johnny Mercer, the MP for Plymouth Moor View and a military veteran himself, said: “Dennis was convicted of nothing. The MoD should stand up for their people. It is even more extraordinary, given this Secretary of State is a Northern Ireland veteran himself.”