THERESA May does not want to see British army veterans brought before the courts in Northern Ireland but the departing Tory leader said processes and systems were needed to ensure that a "proper investigation is taking place".
She was speaking in Westminster yesterday during prime minister's questions.
Mrs May was asked by Julian Lewis, Conservative MP for New Forest East, what she thought of prosecuting a "dying, decorated former soldier".
Mr Lewis was thought to be referring to his constituent Dennis Hutchings (78), a former member of the Life Guards regiment, who is due to stand trial in Belfast in relation to the fatal shooting of a man with learning difficulties.
John Pat Cunningham (27) was killed in Co Armagh in June 1974 as he ran away from an army patrol, which was commanded by Hutchings.
Mr Lewis claimed the charges were "based on no new evidence" and were "unlikely ever to lead to a conviction".
Mrs May said many MPs had raised the issue of prosecuting veterans.
"None of us wants to see elderly veterans being brought before the courts in the way that he has described, but we need to ensure that we have processes and systems in Northern Ireland that ensure that proper investigation is taking place," she said.
"I understand that my colleagues feel that the state has let down people like the veteran that he cited, but the fact is that previous investigations have not been found to be lawful – that is why we are having to look at the process of investigation."
The Tory leader said she wanted to ensure the "terrorists who cause the vast majority of deaths" in the north were brought to justice.
"That is what we are working on, and we will continue to work on a system that is fair," she said.
