Derry MP Colum Eastwood asks Brandon Lewis if paratrooper who shot school girl Majella O'Hare should be immune from prosecution

Speaking at Westminster Mr. Eastwood said: “Some members of this house want an amnesty for veterans who served in Northern Ireland.

“In 1976, Majella O’Hare who was 12 years old, was walking with her friends to church. She was shot in the back and killed. Shot twice in the back by a British paratrooper.”

“Does the Secretary of State believe that that paratrooper should be immune from prosecution?”

Mr. Lewis replied: "The hon. Gentleman will know that I am unable to comment on any particular cases, but we all recognise the sensitivities, difficulties and complexity of all the issues that come through the troubles, which people in Northern Ireland have been dealing with for a very long time.

"We have made a commitment through 'New Decade, New Approach' and as I did in the written ministerial statement earlier this year, to find a way to work through this, working with all parties and all communities in Northern Ireland, and we are still determined to deliver on that."

Majella O'Hare was shot dead on August 14, 1976, as she walked to chapel near her home in Ballymoyer, near Whitecross in County Armagh.

In 1977 a British paratrooper was acquitted of her manslaughter. Her family are currently campaigning for the case into her killing to be reopened.

Speaking after Northern Ireland Questions, Mr Eastwood said: “We will not accept any amnesty for British soldiers. We will resist any attempt to undermine our peace process and our political progress. Any amnesty would serve as an insult to all of the victims of our Troubles.”

“Those who committed atrocities in Northern Ireland should be held accountable. No one, even in uniform, is above the law.”

“The British government must stand by all of the innocent victims that have been searching for truth and justice for far too long and should not legislate for any immunity from prosecution.”