SACKED veterans minister Johnny Mercer was criticised over a “vile” tweet today in which he appeared to dismiss the killing of a young Irish man during the Troubles. 

The former minister came under fire after posting a photo from Saturday’s veterans protest in Parliament Square with his arm round Dennis Hutchings, the Cornish former squaddie who is facing trial for the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham in Tyrone in 1974.

Mr Cunningham, a 27-year-old man with learning difficulties, was fatally shot in the back while running away from an army patrol near Benburb. 

Mr Mercer tweeted: “[Hutchings] is due to stand trial in September for something that happened 46 years ago in Northern Ireland.

“Everyone else present at the time is now dead. At some stage, this will end.”

Mr Hutchings denies the charges. 

Peace Pledge Union campaigns manager Symon Hill described Mr Mercer’s comments as vile. 

“He callously writes that everyone else present at the incident is now dead,” he told the Morning Star today. 

“One of those is Pat Cunningham, an unarmed man with learning disabilities who was shot in the back. Mercer can’t even be bothered to mention his name.

“Mr Hutchings is entitled to a fair trial, in which he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

“He is not entitled to be treated differently because he was in the armed forces.

“Mercer seems to assume that no British soldier could be guilty of a war-related crime.”

The protest on Saturday, led by Mr Mercer, was calling for protections for British soldiers from being tried over offences committed during the Troubles. 

The former minister, who resigned last month, has been heavily involved in the government’s Overseas Operations Bill, which seeks to impose a five-year limit on prosecutions against soldiers.