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Ex-soldier in challenge to trial without a jury for fatal shooting

Former British soldier Dennis Hutchings. Picture by Gareth Fuller/PA Wire.
Former British soldier Dennis Hutchings. Picture by Gareth Fuller/PA Wire. Former British soldier Dennis Hutchings. Picture by Gareth Fuller/PA Wire.

A FORMER soldier charged in connection with a fatal shooting more than 40 years ago has launched a High Court challenge to facing trial without a jury.

Lawyers for 76-year-old Dennis Hutchings claim Northern Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions wrongly decided the criminal case should be determined by a judge sitting alone.

The seriously ill pensioner, of Cawsand in Cornwall, is charged with the attempted murder of John Patrick Cunninghman.

Mr Cunningham (27) was shot in the back as he ran away from a British Army patrol near Benburb, Co Armagh at the height of the Troubles in 1974.

Mr Hutchings, who served in the Life Guards, was charged with attempted murder after the killing was re-examined by police.

It is alleged that he and another soldier both fired their guns, although it is not known who discharged the fatal bullet.

The decision to hold a non-jury trial was taken to guard against a potentially perverse verdict being reached.

Described as "dangerously ill" by his legal representatives, Mr Hutchings has yet to be arraigned.

His barrister argued that the decision was wrong in law and based on "bald assertions" about the risk to the administration of justice.

He told two senior judges that it had been an irrational conclusion without regard for the normalisation of security arrangements in Northern Ireland.

But Gerald Simpson QC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, countered that the 2007 Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act contains a wide-ranging condition for a non-jury trial.

Mr Simpson contended that the context and background to the shooting had to be taken into account.

The barrister cited opposition to British soldiers on the ground at the time, and a firefight between Mr Hutchings patrol and an IRA unit days earlier.

Former British soldier Dennis Hutchings (left), who has been charged over the fatal 1974 shooting of a man in Northern Ireland, takes part in a protest to call for an end to prosecutions of veterans who served during the Troubles, on Horse Guards Parade, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday September 16, 2017. See PA story PROTEST Soldier. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire.
Former British soldier Dennis Hutchings (left), who has been charged over the fatal 1974 shooting of a man in Northern Ireland, takes part in a protest to call for an end to prosecutions of veterans who served during the Troubles, on Horse Guards Parade, Former British soldier Dennis Hutchings (left), who has been charged over the fatal 1974 shooting of a man in Northern Ireland, takes part in a protest to call for an end to prosecutions of veterans who served during the Troubles, on Horse Guards Parade, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday September 16, 2017. See PA story PROTEST Soldier. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire.

Following submissions Lord Justices Gillen and Stephens reserved judgment in the application for judicial review.

Pledging to give a verdict as soon as possible, Lord Justice Gillen cautioned: "We think it would be inadvisable for Mr Hutchings to be arraigned before we give our decision."