Hundreds march in support of ex-soldier Dennis Huchings charged over 1974 Troubles shooting

Hundreds of army veterans have marched in Westminster alongside a former soldier who is facing prosecution in connection with the death of a man during the Troubles.

Hutchings is accused of the attempted murder of unarmed Mr Cunningham. A court has heard that when the victim was shot he was running away from an Army patrol because he had a fear of men in uniform.

Hutchings, of Cawsand, Cornwall, is also facing a charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr Cunningham.

Campaign group Justice For Northern Ireland Veterans organised the solidarity march to protest at a number of recent investigations into the conduct of soldiers stationed in Northern Ireland during the conflict, which they say has been an unfair witch-hunt.

The march was met with a counter demonstration, by campaigners holding a silent vigil and carrying placards which read "I am John Pat Cunningham". At points, there were verbal clashes.

As the group of ex-soldiers marched past parliament, Mr Hutchings threw his military medals at the building.

One of the march organisers Alan Barry said: "If you let terrorists go free from jail, you cannot then go and prosecute the very people who were sent in to fight that dirty war in the first place, and that was us."

Mr Hutchings said: "Today went very well. I hope it shows the Government they have to do something about this absolute travesty of justice".

Many of the veterans wore their former military uniforms, decorated with medals they were awarded for their time in Northern Ireland and also carried Union and Northern Ireland flags.

After congregating in Horse GuardS Parade, they marched to Buckingham Palace, where they sang a rendition of God Save the Queen, before marching to Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square and then arriving at parliament.

Other counter-protests took place at locations in Northern Ireland including Belfast, Londonderry, Strabane and County Armagh.

The director of public prosecutions Barra McGrory has previously denied any bias against soldiers in decisions on whether to prosecute over historical deaths.

In January, he said: "The simple and clear reality is that we deal with cases as they are referred to us, in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors. There is no imbalance of approach within the PPS (Public Prosecution Service)."