200 British soldiers may escape justice for NI crimes

Up to 200 former soldiers are under criminal investigation.

However, reports say the UK prime minister is now going to hand the decision to his attorney general.

The British government is set to announce a system for historic military cases by Wednesday.

But ministers believe handing the decision on the prosecutions over to attorney general Suella Braverman would allow her overturn decisions made by the North’s prosecuting authority if there was no new evidence and the killing had previously been investigated, the Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday.

A source told the paper: ‘The prime minister is committed to ending the prosecutions.’

Claims that the prosecutions of soldiers have become politicised have been denounced by the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI), which insists it is fiercely independent.

Northern Ireland has its own attorney general, but he is not involved in decision-making on prosecutions.

Former soldier Dennis Hutchings, 78, is due to face trial next week accused of attempting to murder a man with learning difficulties who was shot and killed allegedly running away from an army patrol in Co. Armagh in 1974.

Mr Hutchings has denied any wrongdoing.

Numerous attempts to end historic prosecutions of British troops have been resisted by the British government’s Northern Ireland Office, which fears it could risk peace and cause the collapse of the Stormont Assembly, unless justice was seen to be done.