Army top brass ‘running scared’ as old soldiers face witch-hunt
DEFENCE chiefs are “running scared of the law” which is leading to elderly veterans being dragged through the courts decades after their service, a retired general yesterday warned.
General Sir Nick Parker, 64, slammed the “unacceptable and vindictive” risk of trials hanging over veterans.
Gen Parker served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring five years ago. He also oversaw the withdrawal of the Army from the streets of Northern Ireland.
He said he had been contacted by veterans, particularly from the Northern Ireland campaign, worried over re-investigations into killings during the Troubles.
He was asked by Tory MP and former Army officer Johnny Mercer why successive defence secretaries and chiefs of staff had failed to recognise that the witchhunts were “insane” and “breaking our forces”.
Pursued
Gen Parker said: “We have been running scared of the law.”
Four veterans face trial over killings in the Troubles going back to 1972. They include Dennis Hutchings, 77, who is accused of attempted murder over an incident in 1974 for which he has been twice cleared.
Hundreds more are facing reinvestigation.
Under Tony Blair’s Good Friday Agreement 500 convicted terrorists were released early and 300 onthe-run letters were issued to suspected terrorists telling them they would not be pursued.
Meanwhile, 3,500 allegations were levelled at British troops over Iraq – largely by a now discredited firm of lawyers. This led to taxpayer costs of £60million without leading to a single successful prosecution.
Gen Parker told the allparty Commons Defence Select Committee: “It is in my view unacceptable that you send someone to do their country’s duty with this hanging in the background.” He said if people behaved illegally, the Army’s chain of command should be robust enough to deal with that.
He added: “This sense that someone is going to turn the clock back to look at what you did in a forensic environment, when you were doing what you believed was right and reasonable at the time is, I believe, unfair.”
Gen Parker also warned of the risks of elderly veterans being put before “clever lawyers” and grilled about events decades ago. He said the British Army which was sent to Northern Ireland had been trained for campaigns such as Malaya and not to keep the peace on UK streets.
He said: “This was an organisation not equipped for what it was told to do and now we are sending 70-yearolds into court with very clever people around them to address something where the court will not be able to recreate the circumstances.” Gen Parker also backed a Statute of Limitations or time limit for prosecutions – even if this was extended to the terrorists.
Meanwhile, Gen Sir Nick Carter said the defence of the realm could be put at risk by “vexatious” legal claims.
Gen Carter, in his first speech as Chief of the Defence Staff, told the Royal United Services Institute socalled “lawfare” could “undermine the confidence” of junior officers who might fear being hounded through the courts decades later.