Unionists step up attacks on North’s Director of Public Prosecutions over British Army charges

» Peadar Whelan

DUP and UUP ex-soldiers join forces with ‘News Letter’ to fight investigations of service personnel

THE reinstatement of an attempted murder charge against British ex-soldier Dennis Hutchings over the 1974 killing of Tyrone man John Pat Cunningham has brought calls from unionist politicians for the North’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Barra McGrory, to resign.

John Pat Cunningham, who had learning difficulties with a mental age of between 6 and 10 and a fear of people in uniform, was shot dead in1974 near Benburb in County Tyrone as he ran away from a British Army patrol.

The original charge of attempted murder in 2015 was dropped in March this year after a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence, ruling instead the former soldier could instead be tried for “attempted grievous bodily harm”.

Former Ulster Defence Regiment soldier Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, seeking re-election as the DUP MP for Lagan Valley, wrote in the News Letter unionist daily:

“The decision of the PPS to go against the judge raises serious questions about their impartiality and there are many in the community who are now losing confidence in the ability of the PPS to take a balanced approach to legacy cases, myself included.”

The Ulster Unionist Party Westminster candidate for South Antrim, Danny Kinahan, himself a former British Army officer, disparagingly said:

“Barra McGrory’s reign as Director of Public Prosecutions has run its course and for the sake of public confidence he should pack his bags and get out of the Public Prosecutor’s office.”

The attack on McGrory and his professional standing is directly linked to the campaign by former British soldiers, Tory MPs, unionist representatives and supported by the right-wing Tory press (including the strident News Letter) to force the next British Government to give its service personnel immunity from prosecution over conflict-related killings in the North.