Dannatt said while families in Northern Ireland whose loved ones were killed by soldiers had a right to know what happened, truth could not come at any cost.
A former British Army general is calling on Boris Johnston to halt prosecutions against soldiers who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
Lord Richard Dannatt made the demand in an interview with The Sun, after 1,000 outstanding allegations of war crimes carried out by British soldiers in Iraq were dropped last week. He claimed it was “grossly unfair” to pursue prosecutions against armed forces personnel who served in Northern Ireland – six former soldiers currently face prosecution by the Public Prosecution Service in connection to allegations associated to their service during The Troubles.
Among the six is Dennis Hutchings, charged with the attempted murder of John Patrick Cunningham, shot in the back in 1974 in Benburb in County Armagh, and a former paratrooper, identified only as Soldier F, charged with the murder of Jim Wray and William McKinney and attempted murder of four others in Derry in 1972 on Bloody Sunday.
The Prime Minister outlined his intention to “tackle vexatious claims that undermine our armed forces” in the December 2019 Queen's Speech – but any attempt to stop the Public Prosecution Service or PSNI from building cases against former soldiers accused of misconduct is likely to be challenged by the families of those killed.
Further complicating the task of securing…
