BRITISH army veterans and their loyalist supporters have promised to stage a protest at the trial of Soldier F in August as they warn of threats to his safety.

Soldier F faces two charges of murder and three of attempted murder for his role in the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry in January 1972.

He is the only soldier facing charges over the shooting dead of 13 unarmed civilians during a peaceful civil rights protest nearly 50 years ago.

The protesters support the British government’s proposed amnesty for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan being extended to cover the so-called Troubles period.

It comes at a time when horrific evidence is emerging from the Ballymurphy inquest, including testimony that British troops used part of a victim’s skull as an ashtray.

Northern Ireland Crown Forces Veterans For Justice (NICFVFJ) spokesman Wilfie Brown told the Belfast Telegraph that Soldier F’s life could be in danger if he appears in court.

“The people who will be there to support him in court would be open to a drive-by shooting by fanatics in the IRA who continue to drive their agenda in targeting soft targets.

“The possibility is there — unless there is a ring of steel put around the courthouse — that anything could happen.”