Widow of Troubles veteran will not rely on No10 to fight his battle

THE widow of Dennis Hutchings has cast doubt on the Government’s pledge to protect Northern Ireland veterans, by beginning her own legal case to end the prosecution of troops.

Kim Devonshire vowed yesterday to take “a legal case to the European Court of Human Rights” claiming military veterans are unfairly treated by the Government.

Mr Hutchings died last October aged 80, after contracting Covid-19 part-way through his trial in Belfast for attempted murder over a fatal shooting in Northern Ireland in 1974.

Last week, the Government said it was progressing with a legacy bill to protect troops as well as terrorists from prosecution in Northern Ireland over killings in the Troubles. It has been held up by wrangling within Government and entrenched opposition across the political divide in the province.

Ms Devonshire said yesterday: “We feel incredibly disheartened by the treatment Dennis and other veterans have suffered and sceptical that anything meaningful will come from the Government’s most recent announcement. We’d be foolish to keep relying on the Government’s broken promises.”

The case in the European Court in Strasbourg was lodged by Mr Hutchings before his death. Ms Devonshire has decided to carry on the case for him, and for other veterans who could find themselves under investigation.

Mr Hutchings, who served in the Army for 26 years and was posted to Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, died before his trial was over, and so was never acquitted. The former member of the Life Guards regiment had denied shooting John Patrick Cunningham, 27. Lawyers for the Hutchings family say military veterans are 54 times more likely to be prosecuted than IRA terror suspects, because the Ministry of Defence maintained detailed files on shooting incidents, whereas there is little remaining evidence against paramilitary fighters.